Residents flee overnight house fire in Burnaby

Three people scrambled from their home in the middle of the night in Burnaby, B.C., after a fire broke out and burned through most of the roof.

Dave Younger, assistant fire chief withthe Burnaby Fire Department, said crews were called to9930 Lyndhurst Streetat around 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

Three people were in the house when the fire broke out, along with a dog and a cat. All managed to escape without injury. Younger said a neighbour was taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

It took firefighters seven hours to put out the blaze, which Younger believes began in the back of the house and spread to the roof.

"It had smoke and fire from all four sides of the roof," he said.

Younger said damage to the structure is extensive. There was also some minor damage to a neighbouring house.

"But we prevented it from burning," Younger said.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.