Eight Richmond Fire-Rescue crews were needed to deal with a blaze that ripped through the attic of a duplex Friday night.
At about 9 p.m., the fire department was called to the 2500 block of Wellington Crescent in Burkeville with heavy smoke and flames already visible.
According to Acting Deputy Fire Chief Jack Beetstra, crews initially tried to attack the fire from the inside.
However, the fire was already in the attic, so a decision was taken to switch to a “defensive” position and attacked the blaze from the outside, using multiple hoses.
Beetstra said that the two elderly occupants of one side of the duplex were helped out to safety by a neighbour, while the new tenants of the other half of the building were not set to move in until the next day.
No one was injured, added Beetstra.
“It was a very stubborn fire,” he said.
“We still had people there (cleaning up) at 2 a.m. There was substantial damage.”
Beetstra said the investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing but added there are no suspicious circumstances.
