Langley RCMP are still investigating a fire that burnt down the main building at an Aldergrove forest products company early Wednesday morning.
Langley Township fire crews were at a structure fire in the 26900 block of Old Yale Road in Aldergrove all night.
The fire broke out overnight at Elykwood Forest Products and Manufacturing.
The RCMP was contacted about the fire at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, shortly after the Township Fire Department was dispatched, said Langley RCMP Sgt. Barry Beales.
Residents of a nearby townhouse complex were evacuated as a precaution due to the close proximity to the fire, Langley RCMP Cpl. Craig van Herk said.
Additional fire halls were called out just after 9 a.m. to help personnel already on scene.
The police investigation is still underway.
“There have been no reported injuries, and no significant damage occurred to the neighbouring residences,” he said.
Old Yale Road was blocked off in the area for several hours Wednesday.
Langley firefighters were called to the scene of a Wednesday morning structure fire in Aldergrove in the 26900 block of Old Yale Road. Video by Haillie Neiszner. pic.twitter.com/nvTDlKqPFD
— Langley Advance Times (@LangleyTimes) August 30, 2023
The home of one of the evacuees, Laurie Siddall, is “extremely close” to the business. She said at around midnight “there was a bunch of yelling and screaming, and a lot of bangs.”
“It sounded like explosions,” Siddall said.
She evacuated with “four kids, a dog and a cat,” and was not allowed to return until around 4 a.m.
“It was quite a large fire,” Siddall said.
Angela Peddemors, who lives “right behind the fire,” reported hearing “small bangs, and then police [sirens], then a big bang.”
“[I] looked, and there was huge flames,” Peddemors recalled.
“So I got my roommate out and knocked on other doors to get my neighbors up. I yelled ‘fire’ to wake more people up, then I got my car out and more police came and started to evacuate everyone from our houses.”
“They brought in buses for people to stay in from transit,” Peddemors added.
Langley firefighters are at the scene of a Wednesday morning structure fire in Aldergrove in the 26900 block of Old Yale Road pic.twitter.com/2vI3CGEp8f
— Langley Advance Times (@LangleyTimes) August 30, 2023
Kevin Snowden, Township assistant fire chief, said the main building at the forest products site was engulfed in flames and crews took a defensive approach.
Embers and heat picked up, so the nearby townhouse complex and some houses were evacuated and a team of firefighters positioned themselves near the townhouse building to protect it, he said.
There was only some minor melting of the vinyl on one of the townhouses.
The Langley Township fire department is also investigating.
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