An apartment complex in Maple Ridge plagued by bedbug problems was damaged in a fire Friday, leaving 16 people homeless over the weekend.
The fire started just before 7 p.m. in the parkade storage area of Sunrise Apartments.
Fire chief Dane Spence said the fire quickly engulfed items in the storage area, as well as a car parked nearby.
It also burned through plastic drainage piping, leaving the north side of the building on 122nd Avenue uninhabitable.
Spence said over the years, cast iron piping in the parkade has been replaced with PVC pipes.
A plumber was on site Saturday to restore drainage to some of the units.
The fire department has deemed the fire suspicious.
The Sunrise Apartments and adjacent Sorrento Apartments were in the news last year due to a bed bug infestation.
