Image: Submitted by Kimmi Beez, permission granted by Kimmi Beez / Approximately 40 Chilliwack firefighters were dispatched to this fire on the fourth floor at the New Mark housing complex, 46289 Yale Road, in downtown Chilliwack, on Tuesday, April 4. The building has had several fires over the years, including one in January 2018 where an explosion occurred after an individual (or individuals) cooked illegal drugs.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Downtown Chilliwack fire

Downtown Chilliwack building no stranger to repeated fires

Apr 5, 2023 | 9:03 AM

CHILLIWACK — The downtown Chilliwack housing complex where a fire broke out on the top floor Tuesday afternoon has seen several fires over the years, including an explosion involving cooked drugs.

Over 40 Chilliwack firefighters responded from Halls 1, 2, 4, and 6 Tuesday (Apr. 4) just after noon and encountered heavy, black smoke and flames on an exterior top unit of the New Mark apartment building, located at 46289 Yale Road.

Chilliwack Fire Dept. said in a news release the majority of the fire damage was on the exterior and underside of the roof system above the fire-damaged unit.

Fire officials say a portion of the building received fire, smoke and water damage, however they believe the efforts of fire crews and the automatic fire sprinkler system significantly limited the spread of this fast-moving fire and prevented several other units from being damaged.

Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / PML / Chilliwack Fire Department personnel utilized a ladder to reach the top floor of a fire at the New Mark.

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All occupants in the building were evacuated safely. Those displaced are being supported by the Chilliwack Emergency Support Services (ESS) Team.

In September 2021, according to published news reports, several units were damaged in a first-floor fire that wound up displacing several residents.

In January 2018, cooking illegal drugs sparked an explosion at the New Mark. Two occupants of a unit escaped, but a couple units were damaged by the fire.

A former tenant of the building, whom Fraser Valley Today is not identifying due to security reasons, estimates there were at least five fires in his time as a tenant, including the explosion in January 2018. He eventually left the building in 2019 and moved to what he claimed was better housing.