An early morning fire forced the evacuation of a Maple Ridge apartment building on Saturday, April 2.
Just after 3 a.m., Maple Ridge Fire Department began receiving multiple reports of an apartment fire in the 22100 block of Dewdney Trunk Road at the Devonshire Court apartment building.
Crews arrived to find heavy smoke and fire issuing from a second-floor unit on the back side of the large apartment block.
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They rescued multiple people trapped on their balconies using ladders and assisted many others down interior stairwells.
Multiple patients were transported to hospital by ambulance.
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The fire spread to the third floor but was stopped before reaching and spreading into the attic space.
Fire crews from neighbouring Pitt Meadows also assisted at the scene and Emergency Social Services was called to help the occupants burned out of their homes.
Dewdney Trunk Rd was shut down throughout the morning.
Cause of the blaze is under investigation.
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An early morning fire forced the evacuation of a Maple Ridge apartment building on Saturday, April 3. The blaze appeared to have started in a second-floor unit of Devonshire Court in the 22100 block of Dewdney Trunk Road. (Curtis Kreklau/Special to Langley Advance Times)
An early morning fire forced the evacuation of a Maple Ridge apartment building on Saturday, April 3. The blaze appeared to have started in a second-floor unit of Devonshire Court in the 22100 block of Dewdney Trunk Road. (Curtis Kreklau/Special to Langley Advance Times)
An early morning fire forced the evacuation of a Maple Ridge apartment building on Saturday, April 3. The blaze appeared to have started in a second-floor unit of Devonshire Court in the 22100 block of Dewdney Trunk Road. (Curtis Kreklau/Special to Langley Advance Times)
An early morning fire forced the evacuation of a Maple Ridge apartment building on Saturday, April 3. The blaze appeared to have started in a second-floor unit of Devonshire Court in the 22100 block of Dewdney Trunk Road. (Curtis Kreklau/Special to Langley Advance Times)
An early morning fire forced the evacuation of a Maple Ridge apartment building on Saturday, April 3. The blaze appeared to have started in a second-floor unit of Devonshire Court in the 22100 block of Dewdney Trunk Road. (Curtis Kreklau/Special to Langley Advance Times)
An early morning fire forced the evacuation of a Maple Ridge apartment building on Saturday, April 3. The blaze appeared to have started in a second-floor unit of Devonshire Court in the 22100 block of Dewdney Trunk Road. (Curtis Kreklau/Special to Langley Advance Times)
An early morning fire forced the evacuation of a Maple Ridge apartment building on Saturday, April 3. The blaze appeared to have started in a second-floor unit of Devonshire Court in the 22100 block of Dewdney Trunk Road. (Curtis Kreklau/Special to Langley Advance Times)
