Crews respond to large fire at Delta, B.C., lumber mill
A large fire at a Delta, B.C., lumber mill saw two firefighting agencies respond on Sunday near the Fraser Surrey docks.
Officials told CBC News that they first got a call reporting the smell of smoke around 1:35 a.m. PT from the mill located at 9355 Alaska Way, south of the docks, on the Surrey-Delta border.
The Delta Fire Department deployed 29 firefighters to the scene, according to the battalion's deputy chief Dave Ayton.
He said no injuries were reported and the mill was not operational at the time of fire.
A large pile of burned lumber was visible at the mill on Sunday morning. Crews say they were tackling multiple blazes at the mill near the Fraser Surrey docks. (Cory Correia/CBC)
"The fire was confined to the mill itself and the mill did not sustain substantial damage," he said.
"The challenge [was] just getting to the base root of the fire," said Delta Fire battalion chief Hardeep Dhaliwal in an interview. "There's a big stack of lumber there so we had to bring an excavator in to remove the load."
A CBC News reporter saw a stack of burned lumber at the scene on Sunday, with firefighters going in and out of the building.
"No determination of cause yet," Dhaliwal said. "The area's unsafe for investigators at this time to come through."
Battalion chief Hardeep Dhaliwal from Delta Fire & Emergency Services says crews first got the call of a fire around 1:30 a.m. PT. (Cory Correia/CBC)
The battalion's deputy chief Dave Ayton said that crews would likely be at the mill for most of Sunday as they bring the fires under control.
In addition to Delta fire crews, the Surrey Fire Department also sent personnel to assist with firefighting efforts.
