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Crews battle apartment fire in Richmond

Flames shoot from the roof of a three-storey apartment building in Richmond. Brett Archibald

Crews were called to Richmond on Friday to battle a large apartment fire on Arcadia Road.

Richmond fire chief Tim Wilkinson said the building is between Garden City Road and Westiminster Highway, and was evacuated Friday afternoon.

The flames broke out on the top floor of the three-storey building, and Wilkinson said investigators are now trying to figure out how it started.

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Brett Archibald lives in the building and told Global News he realized something was wrong when he heard a sound around 1:30 p.m.

“I heard a crackling noise so I looked up and on the third storey, on the roof of our building, there was lots of black smoke and flames climbing up the wall through the ceiling out of the balcony of an apartment on the third floor.”

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Archibald said it appears everyone managed to get out safely, but at least one unit is a write-off.

“A few people have come out with dogs and cats in crates. A lot of them have pets. I’m not sure who lives in that apartment but that’s what I was worried about. The older type of people that live there.”

Archibald says he’s not sure what’s next or when he’ll be allowed back into his apartment.

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