Stubborn fire on Burnaby Mountain challenges crews

Shed fire worries Burnaby residents Burnaby residents are speaking out after a fire Saturday night that came within a few hundred metres of Kinder Morgan’s tank facility.

Nearly three dozen firefighters were called to put out a stubborn blaze on Burnaby Mountain near the Kinder Morgan tank facility Saturday night.

Fire officials said the fire broke out in an equipment shed on Pinehurst Drive shortly before 8 p.m. Crews arrived to find the metal workshop with a wooden roof fully engulfed in flames, which were visible from as far away as Highway 1.

No one was injured in the fire, but Burnaby Mountain residents say the proximity of the blaze to the Kinder Morgan property makes the incident scarier.

“If I lived closer to this area, I’d be wondering why Kinder Morgan didn’t bring in fire response,” said Martza Mandinga, a nearby resident.

The flames came within 120 metres of Kinder Morgan’s property, prompting crews to notify the company’s security team about the blaze.

Burnaby Assistant Fire Chief Barry Mawhinney said the proximity was initially a concern for firefighters, but a lack of wind and wet underbrush from recent rains made it easier to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading.

A total of 34 firefighters responded to the scene, which crews said was a challenging location on a steep hillside.

“We had some water pressure issues running hose lines up the hill,” Mawhinney said. “We were able to get an initial knockdown and cover the exposures, which was a house and a trailer on the property.”

Mawhinney said the fire took roughly 45 minutes to get under control.

The cause of the fire is unknown, but Mawhinney said the contents of the storage shed likely fed the flames.

“I’m not exactly sure what was in there,” he said. “There was one bottle I think that exploded.”

The property owner told CTV News the building served as a shop for his metalworking hobby. He said he had been in the shop cutting some metal just a few hours before the fire began.

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Breanna Karstens-Smith