British Columbia

Surrey fire destroys townhouse unit, displaces residents

Five Surrey residents have been displaced after a structure fire destroyed one unit in a townhouse complex at the corner of 168 Street and 61 Avenue.

Fire broke out just before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, at the corner of 168 Street and 61 Avenue

A fire that broke out late Tuesday evening destroyed a townhouse complex at the corner of 168 Street and 61 Avenue in Surrey. (Shonna Morgan/Twitter)

Five residents have been displaced after a structure fire destroyed one townhouse unit in Surrey Tuesday evening.

The fire broke out just before 9:30 p.m., at the corner of 168 Street and 61 Avenue. Surrey Fire crews later arrived to find the front of one unit fully engulfed in flames.

Battalion Chief Steve Zecchel said there was a high risk of the fire spreading to adjacent units, but a fast attack by fire crews prevented more extensive damage to the building.

The fire completely gutted one of the townhouse units, displacing three of the residents who lived inside. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

"They got there at a really good time," said Zecchel.

"They made some really key decisions that stopped it from being worse than it was."

One townhouse unit was completely destroyed and will have to be rebuilt, according to Zechel. Two other units suffered exterior damage.

No one was injured in the fire, although a total of five residents were displaced.

Three of those residents were living in the unit that was completely destroyed. The other two displaced residents were occupying one of the adjacent units when the fire broke out.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.