A vacant outbuilding/workshop in west Pitt Meadows burned to the ground early Tuesday. Pitt Meadows fire crews rushed to the location in the 17700-block Kennedy Road just before 3 a.m.
“It was roaring before we got out there,” said Pitt Meadows fire chief Don Jolley.
But their arrival on scene was delayed by about five minutes after firefighters were given the wrong address.
Initially, they were sent to 17900-block Kennedy Road, which led firefighters to take Lougheed Highway and cross the tracks at Kennedy Road. But a passing grain train kept fire trucks waiting at the tracks for an extra five minutes.
Meanwhile, a second fire truck was en route following an alternative route using Ford Road. Firefighters always have units follow two different routes when they respond to fires around the railway tracks to minimize the chance of crews getting delayed by a train.
But the first unit got there before the secondary response anyways, although delayed by about five minutes because of the train.
But Jolley didn’t fault the trains, saying if the fire department had the correct address they would have followed the alternative route.
“We ended up getting there at about the same time,” Jolley said.
“We send them both ways for a reason and usually it doesn’t happen, but this time it did.”
Jolley said people in a nearby house on the property called in the fire after hearing noises. A Honda Civic parked next to the outbuilding was also destroyed. Firefighters aren’t sure if the fire started in the outbuilding or in the car. The fire is still under investigation.
Twenty-four firefighters and four trucks answered the blaze. There were no injuries. Jolley said it’s the first fire in the city since September 2016.
