Fire Chief says attic sprinklers would have helped prevent Langley blaze

Langley's Fire Chief says Sunday's massive blaze at an apartment complex near 56 Avenue and 201A Street would have had a different result if there were sprinklers on the balconies and in the attic.

It's believed the fire started on a fourth floor patio and spread to the roof.

Flames gutted many of the suites on the top two floors before fire crews could get the upper hand.

"It's quite a big problem because we can see that when we have a fire that originates on the top floor in the balcony area, it is a very short path through the soffits up into the attic space," Rory Thompson said.

"Once it's in the attic space, it becomes a very difficult fire for us to fight."

Several units on the first and second level were badly damaged by smoke and water.

Thompson says he supports changing the building code to make sprinkler systems mandatory on balconies and in the attics of apartment buildings.

Lost everything

Geoffrey Holland can stand on the street and look through a burned out wallinto what's left of his fourth floor unit.

He believes he lost nearly all of his possessions, including his prized CD and DVD collection that he's spent decades building.

Holland, who was only wearing a pair of sandals when he escaped with his dog, was grateful that fire crews were able to retrieve a couple pairs of ash-coated, size 16 shoes from his suite.

"It's hard to find size sixteens and wearing Crocs with their little booties wasn't too comfortable," Holland said.

"They're salvageable. I'll fix them up."

Scott Kenward, who also lived on the fourth floor, was only able to grab his wallet, phone and cat before he ran out of his home.

"I don't think there's anything left," he said.

"Our roof looks like it has completely collapsed. I don't have high hopes but we'll see how it goes."

Community support

When Anneliese Schulz and her partner Mike Deboer heard about the fire not far from their home, they tried to find a place where they could donate to victims.

When their search came up empty, they decided to move their enclosed trailer into the driveway and turn it into a donation bin.

"We saw it on the news and we talked about it and then we said let's do it," Schulz said.

"So, we put the trailer out here with our cheap little cardboard sign and there we go."

Deboer says there has been a steady stream of people coming by since Sunday afternoon with truckloads of everything from clothes to pet food.

"We were absolutely overwhelmed," he said.

"The basement has all kinds of stuff in it. We're really getting full in here. We're trying to sort it as best we can but we're not going to be able to accomplish that."