Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / The Chilliwack Fire Department was dispatched Thursday morning (Nov. 2) for the report of a small fire at yet another abandoned house, 8861 School Street, right next to St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chilliwack.
Chilliwack Fire Department

Chilliwack Fire Dept. dispatched for small fire at yet another abandoned house Thursday

Nov 2, 2023 | 12:53 PM

CHILLIWACK — The Chilliwack Fire Department was dispatched Thursday morning (Nov. 2) for the report of a small fire at yet another abandoned house.

According to scanner traffic transmissions, and from information gathered by Chilliwack resident Julie Hiscock, Chilliwack firefighters were dispatched at approximately 8:50 a.m. for the report of a fire at an abandoned home at 8861 School Street, right next to St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and Holy Apostles Orthodox Church.

On arrival, firefighters located very light smoke and a small fire at boarded up, vacant home. Other responding fire engines were advised to stand down. There were no extensions of the fire into the main single-family home.

Firefighters radioed dispatch at 9:10 a.m. to advise there had been a small fire on the back porch in the rear of the home, and it was now out. Firefighters cleared from the scene at 9:10 a.m.

At approximately 9:17 a.m., a fire prevention unit was dispatched to the abandoned home for some kind of investigation. It cleared from the School Street home at approximately 9:43 a.m.

Fraser Valley Today visited the home in question Thursday morning. Windows and door entrances have been boarded up by plywood on multiple sides of the home. Personal effects, possibly from unhoused individuals or squatters, were located in the backyard of the property.

The home at 8861 School Street was built in 1946 on a 6,150 square foot lot. It has not been sold in the past three years, according to B.C. Assessment records available online. The land has been assessed at $571,000, while the building itself was valued at $134,000.

Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / Personal effects possibly belonging to unhoused individuals or squatters can be seen in the back of a property at 8861 School Street, where Chilliwack firefighters were dispatched Thursday morning for the report of a fire at an abandoned home.

This appears to be the 3rd fire in less than a week at abandoned homes in the School Street and Mary Street area. A fire happened at a vacant home on Mary Street over the October 27-29 weekend, followed by Tuesday’s big house fire at 9049 School Street, and now today’s small fire in the back of the home at 8861 School Street.