A large cloud of smoke rose out of the Whalley area this afternoon, just a block away from Surrey’s 135A Street and not far from Gateway SkyTrain station.
“It was a chicken barn of all things that was in there,” Assistant Fire Chief Chris Keon told the Now-Leader. “The home was not occupied and neither was the chicken barn.”
The fire department received word of the fire, at 10714 City Parkway, just before noon on Monday.
It was soon upgraded to a two-alarm structure.
“We needed more man power,” said Keon.
It didn’t take long for crews to tackle the blaze, he added.
There was no damage to the home on the property and no injuries were reported, but a church next door had a “minor amount” of fire damage, said Keon.
“The chicken barn itself was badly damaged,” he added. “There were no chickens inside.
“The home owner was contacted and is there now.”
Acting Director of the Surrey Food Bank Feezah Jaffer said it was “concerning” when a staff member noticed the fire, an estimated 30 feet away from the charity.
“It was the whole shed structure and the tree behind it caught fire,” she said. “The concern for us was that it would jump to us. There’s a lot of dry grass in between us.”
But quick work by fire crews had it under control, she said.
“Kudos to the fire department,” Jaffer said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and Keon said an investigation will follow.
