Smoking on balcony suspected cause of Surrey apartment fire

Balcony smoking is the suspected cause of a four-alarm fire thatgutted a Surrey, B.C., apartment forcing100 people to evacuate their homes onSaturday night.

Surrey's Assistant Fire Chief Steve Robinson saidthe fire is the latestin a series in the city over the past fewyearsthat causedmajor damage because flames wentundetected.

"Somebody has to smell it, see it, hear it. The building's detection systems are bypassed because it starts on the outside of the building," said Robinson.

He points tothe lack on preventionsystems on balconies and outside walls of B.C. buildings, calling on the province to requiremulti-unit buildings have exterior fire detectors and sprinklersystems.

Fires that spark on the outside of a building take longer to be noticed andcause up to 2.4 times more damage, he added.

Investigation ongoing

The fire that guttedThe Celeste apartment building on 121a Street sparkedon a second-floor balcony, butso far fire officials can't find any obvious cause.

They suspect the cause was aburning orsmoldering cigarette butt.

"There was nothing else to give us an indication. There was no electrical on the outside, the barbecue was in the off position, so that doesn't leave us with a lot else," said Robinson.

• 4-alarm apartment fire displaces Surrey residents
• Apartment fire leaves Surrey residents awaiting answers

The investigation into the blaze isongoing.

Robinson urges anybody smoking outside a building to douse their buttsin a safe way:

• Use a pop can half-full of water.
• Put a bucket full of sand where smokers gather.
• Never butt a cigarette in a plant pot as peat moss can smolder and ignite later.