Family loses home after escaping flames in Boxing Day fire in Langley, B.C.
3 people escaped unharmed, 2 dogs are missing
A family has lost their home in Langley, B.C. after a two-alarm fire tore through the house shortly after midnight on Christmas night.
Three people were inside the home when they discovered the fire around 12:45 a.m. PT on Dec. 26. Two escaped through a back door, while another exited through a window.
Firefighters say the flames were already through the roof of the two-storey home when they arrived at the scene in the 2000 block of 200th St.
"It's terrible," said Langley Fire department Assistant Chief Andy Hewitson.
"This time of year is especially difficult [...] Luckily it sounds like there was a smoke alarm that was working, which helped the gentleman exit through the window."
Hewitson said firefighters took a defensive approach and were able to save the neighbouring buildings, however the house is destroyed.
Kim Lennon, 62, who rents the house, escaped through a back door with her sister, a woman in her 50s, who was visiting at the time.
The other person in the house at the time of the fire was a male tenant who managed to get out through a window.
All three were examined for injuries and cleared at the scene.
Thomas Bennett, 34, who is Lennon's son and lives at the house, wasn't home when the fire started.
He said on Saturday that he, his mother and his roommate have lost everything.
"I've been up and down roller coaster all day and all night," he said. "This is everything that we've owned, this is everything that I have is on my back right now."
Lennon, Bennett and their male roommate are all now staying in a hotel.
Bennett is still searching for his two dogs that have been missing since the fire. He says his mother and the other woman, his aunt, who was staying the night, are overwhelmed by their ordeal.
"They just don't know what to think or do, or anything right now. None of us have eaten. We haven't slept."
Fire investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire. Langley RCMP say the property is an active crime scene.