Cindy Cardiff woke early this morning (Aug. 17) to a loud crackling sound outside her bedroom window.
I looked out and there was a big fire, the Squamish resident said.
She called 911 at approximately 6 a.m. and then joined a gaggle of pyjama-clad people watching a blaze rip through a trailer in the Timbertown Mobile Park. Luckily, the owners were safely outside, Cardiff said, but the trailer was a write off.
It had flared up really fast, she said.
Residents pounded on the doors of neighbouring trailers, Cardiff noted.
We were concerned we would have to evacuate, [the fire] was that big, she said.
The Squamish Fire Rescue quickly arrived on scene, Cardiff said. They calmly went about dousing the flames that were easily twice the size of the trailer, she said.
It was terrible. You feel so bad for the people, Cardiff said.
Squamish Fire Rescue received the call at 5:59 a.m., said Bob Fulton, the fire department's deputy fire chief. By the time the fire engine and ladder truck arrived, the mobile home was pretty much fully engulfed.
Firefighters focused their energy on the neighbouring trailer. The fire had jumped to its roof and the adjacent wall.
It is always a challenge with mobile homes because they are light-weight construction and they burn very rapidly, Fulton said.
The 18 firefighters on scene brought the fire under control. Everybody was safe, but the family's cat was not accounted for, Fulton said. The department is investigating what sparked the blaze.
Squamish Fire Rescue has been busy for the past few weeks, he said. Last week, they fought a brush fire alongside Coastal Fire Centre, just north of the Big Orange Bridge on Highway 99.
The weather, the volume of people, the volume of traffic up the highway, all of these increase our calls, Fulton said.
