Candles may be ‘contributing factor’ to Surrey house fire: RCMP

Surrey RCMP say candle may be the contributing factor of a late-night fire in Fleetwood Thursday (July 4).

Constable Richard Wright said the fire, which happened just before midnight on July 4 in the 15800-block of 88th Avenue, is still under investigation, but the “initial investigation has indicated that candles being used by the people inside the residence may have been a contributing factor to the fire.”

Surrey Fire Service Assistant Chief of Operations David Burns said there was “somewhere between seven and 10 people” inside the single-family home.

Burns said all of the people “living in the house at the time” were out by the time fire crews arrived to the second-alarm fire.

“A lot of the people there weren’t permanent residents of the building, so we didn’t have an exact number of people,” Burns told the Now-Leader. “That’s why the crews were searching the building to make sure there was no one else inside.”

The fire, Burns said, was “fully involved” by time crews arrived to the scene.

A fire investigator was scheduled to be on scene Friday morning “to try and determine the cause,” Burns said.

There have been three other “major” fires this week in Surrey.

READ ALSO: Surrey firefighters respond to three ‘major’ fire in less than 24 hours, July 3, 2019

First was a townhouse fire in the 15500-block of 89th Avenue on Canada Day around 10 a.m.

Then in the early hours of July 2, there were two fires – one in South Surrey and one in Newton – happening within a few minutes of each other.

An abandoned house in the 3600-block of 176th Street in South Surrey was a “total loss” and two families were displaced following a house fire near 138th Street and 58th Avenue that spread to neighbouring homes.

READ MORE: Fire destroys abandoned South Surrey house, July 2, 2019

READ MORE: Twelve people displaced after fire rips through Surrey townhouse complex, July 2, 2019

- With files from Tracy Holmes and Amy Reid