An early morning fire forced the evacuation of a Maple Ridge apartment building on Saturday, April 3.
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.
READ ALSO: Mother and children escape raging townhouse fire in Maple Ridge
They rescued multiple people trapped on their balconies using ladders and assisted many others down interior stairwells.
B.C. Emergency Health Services said seven ambulances responded to the reported residential structure fire and transported four patients to hospital.
Devonshire resident Deborah Hampton told the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows News that when she was awakened by a ringing fire alarm, she initially thought it might be the smoke alarm in her suite.
On realizing it was coming from the hallway outside, she got dressed, put her cat in a carrying cage and exited.
She lives in a second floor apartment, on the other side of the fire wall and fire doors where the fire apparently started.
“As soon I stepped out, I could smell smoke.”
Hampton is now staying with family members and waiting to hear when she might be able to return to her home.
Hampton said the 47-unit building was a housing co-op, about 30 years old.
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Woman and dog found dead after Maple Ridge house fire
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.
Have a story tip? Email: editor@mapleridgenews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
An early morning fire forced the evacuation of a Maple Ridge apartment building on Saturday, April 3, 2021. 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, 2021. 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, 2021. 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, 2021. 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, 2021. 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, 2021. 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, 2021. 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 (Deborah Hampton/Special to Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows News)
