Investigators are still sifting through debris to try and determine what caused a house fire that destroyed a Port Coquitlam home Monday morning.
The extent of the damage to the Citadel Heights home has made it difficult for officials to figure out what happened, said Fire Chief Nick Delmonico, making it difficult to ascertain the cause of the blaze.
"There was so much damage to the structure that we weren't able to get investigators in there," he said, noting no one was home at the time of the incident.
Firefighters believe the flames started in the basement of the Richard Place home and quickly advanced into the upper floors. By the time first responders arrived shortly after 9 a.m., the house was fully involved and smoke was billowing from all sides, Delmonico said.
One concern was a swimming pool held behind a giant concrete retaining wall that stood at the front of the property. City crews had to drain the pool when firefighters became concerned that the cement was not allowing the water they were using to douse the fire to drain away from the property.
"We dumped so much water into the house," Delmonico said. "We were afraid it was being retained in the pool."
Jim Penty, a neighbour who lives across the street, said it appeared that the blaze started on the lower floors and moved upwards to the roof.
"I saw smoke billowing out," he said. "I noticed that the lower windows were broken when I got out here."
Rosie Perrin, who lives behind the home on Richard Place, said she smelled smoke at around 9 a.m. and went outside to investigate.
