3 vacant homes burned in 3 hours in Langley, firefighters say

A series of early morning fires at homes slated for demolition are being treated as suspicious by police.

Firefighters in Langley were called to three vacant homes that went up in flames in a span of just a few hours Tuesday morning.

The first call came in around 4 a.m. Firefighters responded to a house on 76 Avenue near 200 Street, and soon found that a second home two doors down was also on fire.

“Both properties are vacant and both properties were boarded up,” said Asst. Chief Ken Strand, of the Township of Langley Fire Department.

Strand added that the fires are considered suspicious, noting that gas and electricity were turned off at both sites and there were no indications that the fire could have spread between the two homes and missed the other houses in between them.

“We’ve just got two vacant houses with no power services that caught fire about the same time,” Strand said.

Asked whether there was any indication of squatters living in either vacant structure, Strand said there was none.

More than a dozen fire trucks responded to the 76 Avenue blazes, and Strand said there were no injuries to firefighters or members of the public during the response.

While crews were still on scene, another call came in for a third abandoned house on fire near 69 Avenue and 204 Street, about five minutes away.

Strand said it’s too early to say if all three blazes are related, but three calls of the same nature in such a short period of time is unusual.

Langley RCMP issued a statement late Tuesday morning confirming that the three fires are under investigation.

According to Mounties, the first blaze broke out around 3:15 a.m., and the last was reported around 5:30 a.m.

All three residences were abandoned and slated to be demolished, police said.

“Investigation into these fires is currently ongoing, and due to the close proximity to all of these incidents, we are treating this as suspicious in nature,” said Sgt. Zynal Sharoom of the Langley RCMP, in the statement.

Police are asking anyone who was travelling in the area between 3 and 6 a.m. Tuesday and may have recorded dash cam video to contact them and quote file 2025-9444.

The non-emergency number for Langley RCMP is 604-532-3200.