A home and surrounding forest were saved from catching fire after a detached garage was engulfed in flames early Thursday morning.
Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service crews were called to a property on Horn Street at around 2 a.m. where a detached garage was fully involved in a fire.
“When they arrived, the garage was fully involved, as well as some of the trees were starting to catch,” Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Snider said. “The area that we’re in right now, it’s set away from the road. We had to do a hand stretch from the road with a relay pump. Bit of a challenge.”
Aird Flavelle, a neighbouring resident, said he awoke at 3 a.m. to a “roaring fire” next door at the damaged property.
“I’ve called police and bylaw many, many times on that place,” Flavelle said of the property.
Snider said it was fortunate firefighters were able to contain the blaze with “very slight damage to the house,” as the area is surrounded by thick brush.
“We’re in the middle of the forest, basically. There’s not a lot around here, so this could have spread quite rapidly. Could have been a big problem,” Snider said.
“Very dangerous right now. As we all know, everybody’s worried about sparks on the road. Well, we’re in the middle of the forest and we just had a fully involved fire. The guys did a great job to get here and get it stopped quickly.”
Speaking after 3 a.m., as the blaze was contained, Snider said the crews were working on cleanup and awaiting a fire inspector to determine a cause of the fire.
