Witnesses report waking up to popping and crackling and the sound of people screaming and yelling, and finding their neighbor’s home on fire early Friday morning on the Burnaby-Vancouver border.
Officials say calls came in around 2:40 a.m. and when they got to the scene one home was fully engulfed.
Two people were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
About an hour later, the flames jumped to a neighboring home.
Burnaby Fire Department Deputy Chief Dave Samson says six people and multiple pets were able to get out safely, but both homes have significant damage.
“We do have some displaced residents also in the townhouse unit to the west. About four of those units have been evacuated with the assistance of RCMP. ESS — Emergency Social Services with the City of Burnaby — is also on scene.”
Firefighters say it appears the fire started at the home’s back deck, but that the house now shows signs of collapsing making it difficult and dangerous to investigate the cause.
Roads in the neighborhood were closed for much of the morning as firefighters dealt with they called “a challenging set of fires.”