Oily rags may have been the cause of a double house fire that broke out early Sunday in Langley.
Firefighters were called to the 23800 block of 36A Avenue around 3 a.m., where a fire in a house under construction spread to another house on the same lot.
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Noise from the fire woke neighbours Richard and Tracy Johnson, who called 911 just after 3 a.m.
“I saw an orange glow through the bedroom window,” said Richard “I realized the next-door neighbour’s house was on fire.”
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Tracy said that after calling 911, they moved their cars away and started hosing down the fence line to prevent the blaze from spreading.
No serious injuries were reported.
Multiple units of police, fire and emergency services attended the scene.
Because there is no municipal water system in the area, water had to be brought in using tankers that filled up from the nearest hydrants on Fraser Highway.
Fortis was called in to shut down the gas line.
Originally the fire department considered the blaze suspicious, given the circumstances.
But by Monday, Township fire investigators believed the fire started from solvent-soaked rags that had combusted.
“We found some rags in the back and the front,” said Township fire investigator Pat Walker.
“They had just done some staining and put the rags in the garbage,” said Walker.
The house had been gutted for a complete renovation that was underway.
The home was stripped down to bare studs and insulation has just been put in, said Walker.
While it’s not compeletely conclusive that it was rags that were the cause, it is the theory that makes the most sense, he said.
The oily rags heat up and eventually burn when allowed oxygen in a confined space.
“It’s like creating a campfire with dry kindling to get it going,” he explained. The fire spread “like a wildfire” to the other split level home where the owners were sleeping, Walker said.
“The grandmother was (wakened) by the sound of crackling and noticed her room was a-glow,” said Walker.
She alerted the other family members and everyone got out safely. But that house suffered significant fire damage as well. Nearly 70 per cent of that structure was burnt, including the roof which is gone.
“The vinyl windows all let go, letting the flames into the second floor,” he said. Most homes are 10 feet apart so the fire can quickly spread from home to home as seen in the wildfires across B.C. this summer, he said.
The residents of the house have received aid from the fire department PDA (Personal Disaster Assistance) program that provides temporary shelter, clothing and other necessities.
SAFEST WAY TO DISPOSE OF FLAMMABLE RAGS
Place used rags in empty metal container that has tightly-sealed lid. The container should be at least 10 feet from any structure.
