Smoke from a fire that broke out in a business at New Westminster was seen from kilometres away Sunday evening.
The incident began at approximately 6 p.m. at a laundromat located in a strip mall on the 400 block of 8th Street near near 4th Avenue.
The fire also spread to nearby businesses and prompted the evacuation of residents from an adjacent apartment building.
The streets in the surrounding area were closed and it took firefighters until about 10 p.m. to contain the fire.
The laundromat has been severely gutted by the flames while other businesses in the strip mall suffer severe water damage.
“We entered what was a coin laundry on the end, and found that there was smoke there… opened up a couple of walls, we found a fire burning in the walls, and it quickly escalated up into the attic space,” New Westminster Fire Chief Tim Armstrong told CKNW.
“And as you can see, the age of this building with many, many renovations over the years, the fire spread quite rapidly and yeah, we’ve got it contained.”
The exact cause of the fire is being investigated.
There's a pretty big fire in New Westminster. I can see flames competing with firefighter spray. pic.twitter.com/v9PGUyvMlA
— Chris Goward (@chrisgoward) July 20, 2015
Structure fire in #NewWest. Please avoid 8th St btwn 4 Ave and 5 Ave. pic.twitter.com/EdeaZK421X
— NWPD Patrol (@NWPDpatrol) July 20, 2015
Black smoke continues to pour out of strip mall home to shops like laundromat and Royal Crown Pizza #NewWest pic.twitter.com/MtIGO2Lhmi
— Theresa McManus (@TheresaMcManus) July 20, 2015
I've been to a lot of fires – never seen or smelled smoke like this. Throat burning after only a minute. #NewWest pic.twitter.com/Hs7OnKx3rr
— Theresa McManus (@TheresaMcManus) July 20, 2015
New Westminster firefighters still battling fire in commercial strip mall at 8th Street/4th Ave pic.twitter.com/E3xO9LpgOG
— Theresa McManus (@TheresaMcManus) July 20, 2015
Fire getting worst #newwestminster #globalnews #ctv #vancitybuzz #newsleader pic.twitter.com/jhPXZZCg9D
— Sandhya Prasad (@sandhyaprasad66) July 20, 2015
Massive fire 400 block of #NewWest @GlobalBC 🙁 pic.twitter.com/nLhijuAFAg
— Sherry Masztalar (@galaxyvixen) July 20, 2015