A house fire broke out at around 10:15 this morning in a house in the alleyway behind the St. Matthews Anglican Church on the 4500 Block of Lakelse Avenue. Flames were seen coming out of an addition to the house.
A resident told The Terrace Standard he was upstairs when he smelled smoke, noticed the fire and exited the building. Firefighters were dispatched at 10:23. Upon arrival fire crews reported nobody inside the building with no reported injuries. Flames appeared under control within minutes of their arrival.
Dave Jephson, deputy fire chief at the Terrace Fire Department, said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
The Thornhill Volunteer Fire Department was called on for help, which city spokesperson Tyler Clarke described as “possibly overkill but better safe than sorry with structures nearby,” adding as of 2:30 pm that the fire was out.
“We just have somebody on site to monitor to make sure there are no new flareups.”
Clarke clarified on Wednesday that the Terrace fire department called the Thornhill department in order to meet the standard number of firefighters at the scene, which he said should be around 14.
A crew of 11 Terrace firefighters responded with all units while Thornhill helped out with an additional 6 firefighters and one engine. The cause remained undetermined as of Wednesday.
This report was updated to include further comment from City of Terrace spokesperson Tyler Clarke.
Do you have a comment about this story? email:
michael.willcock@terracestandard.com