Large fire burning on a barge in Mission

MISSION (NEWS 1130) – A large fire engulfed a barge off the coast of the Fraser River near Silverdale, but firefighters said they couldn’t do much besides watch it burn.

Assistant Fire Chief Blaine Odenbach said the building on the vessel appeared to be a mining or forestry bunkhouse.

“We don’t have any way to stop it because it’s a metal-clad building with a metal roof with some kind of sealant on it. The fire is in the attic space and it’s just going from one end of the barge to the other.”

He said the flames broke out at around 3 a.m. and will likely last through the day.

“My understanding is it’s not occupied, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t homeless folks trying to live in it,” Odenbach said.

 

Although we may never know the exact cause, he said fire crews are labelling it suspicious.

At its peak, 25 firefighters battled the flames.

He said it took crews until 2 p.m. to put it out.

 – With files from Dean Recksiedler

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