A barge continues to smolder on the river, near Silverdale this afternoon.
Mission Fire Rescue Service has been battling the blaze since about 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning, but after close to 12 hours, local firefighters have ceased their efforts.
“It’s not out, but there is nothing we can do with it. It’s been handed over to the province. It belongs to them and they are going to deal with it from now on,” explained Mission’s assistant fire chief Blaine Odenbach.
“We put out as much as we can, but most of the building has collapsed, the roof collapsed and it’s an all-metal building. We can’t gain access to the barge. It’s too dangerous for us to go on anyway,” he explained.
He said it’s going to be smoldering for a day or two.
Firefighters originally arrived on scene, to discover the barge, which has several living quarters on it, in flames. Firefighters battled the blaze from the shoreline.
“It’s called a bunkhouse. It’s a barge that was brought over some time ago,” said Odenbach adding it contains bedrooms, a kitchen and a recreation area.
There were no injuries reported and Odenbach doesn’t think anybody was on the barge at the time.
The cause of the fire is undetermined, but suspicious.
The barge was moored adjacent to 8449 Maclean Street.
About 25 firefighters were on scene trying to contain the blaze, including three engines, three tenders and two tenders from Maple Ridge.