Willowbrook Shopping Centre in Langley was evacuated Wednesday afternoon when a row of trees and shrubs in the parking lot went up in flames.
The fire, in the southern parking lot near the exterior entrance to the Winners Store was reported just before 5 p.m.
Crews from both the Langley City and Township fire departments responded to the scene, along with police.
Five fire trucks were seen blocking access to the parking lot while firefighters doused the charred foliage.
Two cars in the parking lot appeared to have suffered damage.
About five metres of median was destroyed.
Some employees of a mall store, who did not want to be named, described hearing the fire alarm going off and thinking at first that it might be a false alarm.
“Then it started sounding continuously,” one told the Langley Advance Times.
“And we were told to leave. The whole mall smelled of smoke.”
Staff and customers waited outside for about 20 minutes until the fire was extinguished.
Is there more to the story? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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A parking lot fire forced the evacuation of the Willowbrook Shopping Centre on Wednesday, July 21. (Dan Ferguson/Langley Advance Times)
A parking lot fire forced the evacuation of the Willowbrook Shopping Centre on Wednesday, July 21. (Dan Ferguson/Langley Advance Times)
