Massive fire destroys upper floors of Langley condo building

Langley fire forces dozens from their homes The tragedy is also bringing strangers together to help those who have lost everything.

Vancouver — A massive fire tore through the upper floors of a condo building in Langley Friday afternoon, sending a plume of smoke into the air that was visible from around the region.

The fire broke out shortly after 6 p.m. in the building on 56 Avenue in Langley City, prompting fire crews to close the road between 196 and 200 streets while they battled the blaze.

Roughly 30 fire fighters and 10 trucks from both the city and township of Langley arrived to fight the flames.

"When the crews pulled out of the station, they saw quite a large column of thick black smoke, so they immediately called for a second and third alarm," said chief Rory Thompson. "When crews arrived on scene, there were heavy flames already through the roof of the building."

He said it was "fortunate" the fire was contained to the single lot.

Video from the scene showed flames shooting out of the windows of the top floor of the mid-rise building. A white pickup truck in front of the building was also on fire.

Fire officials at the scene said no one was injured in the blaze. Numerous police vehicles also responded to the scene. Thompson said it would take a while before fire investigators could get into the building and begin working to determine the cause.

TransLink detoured its 342 Langley Centre bus onto the Langley Bypass as a result of the fire.