Crews called to two separate fires in Pitt Meadows

PITT MEADOWS (NEWS 1130) – An early morning fire at a dairy farm along Old Dewdney Trunk Road in Pitt Meadows has left several cows dead.

The call came in around midnight, firefighters say.

“When I arrived on scene, the front barn here was fully involved and spreading to the second barn,” Assistant Fire Chief Brad Perry said. “The farmer and some neighbours were trying to get some cattle out of the barn, but I don’t believe they got all of them out.”

It’s unclear how cows many remained inside or what caused the fire.

The smell of smoke and burnt materials is pungent around the region.

The fire forced some road closures along Old Dewdney Trunk Road.

The blaze itself was knocked down as quickly as possible, and as crews were in the clean up stages, Perry says firefighters were called out to a second fire nearby

Firefighters respond to second major blaze

The second fire along Kennedy Road was spotted around 6 a.m.

It has completely destroyed what was likely an agricultural nursery, turning wooden structures into a pile of rubble.

Earlier reports suggested this fire was also at a barn.

The flames were caught fully engulfing several structures, with smoke seen towering high above into the sky.

There’s no word on what may have caused this fire.

No injuries have been reported, and no flights at the nearby Pitt Meadows Airport have been impacted.

Mayor takes the time to thank crews

It was no doubt a busy morning for the members of the Pitt Meadows fire department.

Mayor Ben Dingwall says he received a text early Friday morning, and thought it was important to take the time to meet with crews.

“That we come down and bring some hot chocolate and some coffee to our firefighters and make sure they’re OK and to do our part as part of the city here in Pitt Meadows,” he told NEWS 1130.

Dingwall adds the members are trained for this kind of job, but admits it must have been a long evening of braving the elements.

“They were running on adrenaline and running on their training, trying to knock both fires down,” the mayor said.

The city has about 30 paid on-call volunteers, he says, with five full-time firefighters. Two more full time members are being added next week, he adds.

“It’s a combination, composite department made up of both full time and volunteers. The volunteers are extremely dedicated, they come out every week for training. They do a lot of volunteer charity work in our city, so we’re extremely proud of what they do, especially when they’re putting their lives at risk dealing with large structure fires.”