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Large fire guts greenhouse in Surrey

No injuries reported in fire at a garden supply company in the 14400 block of 44 Ave

A fire destroyed a building at a garden supply company in South Surrey early Saturday (Sept. 7).

Surrey Fire crews responded to a greenhouse fire in the 14400 block of 44 Ave around 12:45 a.m., said Surrey Fire Service assistant fire chief Mike McNamara.

The greenhouse that was located at a business behind the Art Knapps garden centre was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived, McNamara said.

The 10,000 sq ft building had a metal frame wrapped with plastic. "Once it caught on fire, it created a significant amount of fire and smoke," McNamara said.

More than 20 Surrey firefighters responded to the fire. He said there was no risk to life, and no injuries were reported. Firefighters knocked down the fire in under an hour.

The fire was located in an area Surrey Fire calls a "no water district" where there is no fire hydrant within 1000 feet.

In these districts, fire crews do what they call a tender shuttle to bring in water.

"We had four of our tenders out which contained 1500 gallons of water, and they just shuttle the water in, and they do a kind of a rotating cycle. They empty their tank, then another one comes in right behind it," McNamara said.

"Crews trained pretty hard on that (tender shuttles) to make sure that we have a pretty good system in place where everyone knows what to do and they just rotate them right in and out," McNamara.

McNamara said crews on site did not notice anything suspicious or out of the ordinary but the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

An inspector from Surrey Fire will visit the site on Monday.



Anna Burns

About the Author: Anna Burns

I cover breaking news, health care, non-profits and social issues-related topics for the Surrey Now-Leader.
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