Surrey RCMP and Surrey Fire Services were on scene at South Surrey's Old Curio Shop Thursday morning, attending to what RCMP Cpl. Bert Paquet called "a mental-health issue."
"We were called to assist the Surrey fire department on a call to check in on the well-being of a female who resides at that location," Paquet said.
As well, Paquet said officials were there following up on a previous file "with regard to the buildings" on the property, in the 1400-block of King George Blvd.
"We're working with the City of Surrey building inspection department with regard to safety risks for the occupants – possible electric hazards, things of that nature," he said.
"We're concerned with the safety of the residents. Beyond the look and feel of the place from a public perspective, we're working with the city to ensure that if any actions need to be taken to ensure their safety, those steps happen."
The Curio Shop – well-known for its floor-to-ceiling profusion of secondhand items – has been the focus of city bylaw officers and emergency crews before.
In December 2011, bylaw and cleanup crews arrived at the business with a bulldozer to help the proprietor tidy the site, including the removal of dying blackberry bushes.
At that time, Surrey's manager of bylaw enforcement, Ed Warzel, told Peace Arch News they've been dealing with the property since 2009.
“We’ve been responding to complaints about the tidiness of the property," he said.
“There’s been an accumulation, a collection of, for want of a better word, stuff. Some, I suspect, is of value, some of it is junk. It’s one of those things that is very personal. He’s been in the area a long time, and you don’t just get there overnight. But you can’t just leave that sort of thing lying in yards."
In April 2012, Surrey firefighters and paramedics were called to the Old Curio Shop to help free a man who had become stuck in a staircase inside a residents on the north side of the property. No one was injured.