Langley Township fire crews rushed to a South Langley barn fire on Monday afternoon, only to find the building already blazing and with livestock trapped inside.
Several Township fire crews were called out to the 21800 block of 8th Avenue at about 4:35 p.m., said assistant fire chief Bruce Ferguson.
The flames were too intense to attempt to enter the barn.
"There's quite a number of animals lost," said Ferguson.
After speaking to the property's owners, it is believed that six horses, three sheep, and some pygmy goats perished in the fire, which destroyed the barn.
Animals in paddocks up against the outside of the building were rescued.
District chief Rob Sewell was on scene and managed to open gates to allow two llamas or alpacas to get way from the flames and into a pasture.
"They were pretty happy to see me and get out of there," Sewell said.
Firefighters also managed to move some ducks and chickens from another pen that was hard up against the exterior of the barn.
Two firehalls initially responded to the blaze, but as there are no fire hydrants in the rural area, more trucks had to be called in to haul water.
"We had tankers from every hall there," said Ferguson.
The owners of the property, which appeared to be a hobby farm, were not home at the time of the fire, but arrived later, said Ferguson. They owned the majority of the animals, but one horse was apparently being boarded there, Ferguson said.
The cause of the fire is unknown, and investigators were just heading out to the building Tuesday morning. Firefighters had been on scene all night, watching for hot spots and to prevent any further flare ups.