SURREY – A number of Indo-Canadian-run businesses, including City Pizza and Bombay Palki restaurant, were gutted in a towering blaze that broke out at a Surrey, B.C. strip mall between 82nd and 84th Street along the Scott Road business corridor.
The fire was sparked at around 2:30 a.m. Thursday on the ground floor of the two-storey Forest Hill Plaza, located on Scott Road at 83rd Avenue.
The fire is believed to have started in the basement of the complex, where several businesses stored their merchandise.
The blaze quickly spread to the second floor, sending smoke and flames skyward and growing into a massive inferno believed to have consumed between six and eight stores.
About 10 fire trucks, three rescue trucks and 46 firefighters responded to the blaze and had it under control by 7:30 a.m., though crews remained on scene targeting remaining hot spots.
No injuries have been reported in connection with the blaze, but a BC Hydro worker who is believed to have fallen down near the scene was loaded into an ambulance.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
