A restaurant in Langley, B.C., has likely been destroyed by a fire in the city’s downtown core on Saturday, according to a local business leader.
Teri James, the executive director of the Downtown Langley Business Association, told CBC News she first started receiving messages about the blaze just after 7:30 a.m. PT.
The fire was reported at the Viva Mexico restaurant at 20559 Fraser Highway, in the city’s McBurney Plaza area. James said nearby businesses had to be evacuated, but that a firefighter informed her they were able to save the building beside the restaurant.
“There’ll be some smoke damage and water damage, of course, but it didn’t burn because there was substantial firewall between the two buildings,” James said.
Fire crews were still battling the blaze as of shortly before 10 a.m., according to a post to X by the Township of Langley.
Please avoid the intersection of Fraser Highway near Glover Road. Fire crews are assisting Langley city fire crews at the scene of major fire. pic.twitter.com/5ofDEL8UN9
James said she was not aware of any injuries due to the blaze, which sent smoke billowing through the city’s downtown core.
“There’s a lot of clothing and footwear and giftware stores,” she said. “And, of course, everyone’s worried about smoke damage as well because the billowing smoke was quite heavy and dark and like [a] burning tar kind of thing.”
The business leader said she was told the area might be closed off for another day while firefighters continue to fight the blaze, and encouraged locals to support small businesses any way they can until then.
“This is definitely a blow, but this is an amazing small business community and everybody rallies together and helps one another,” she said.
“We will survive. It’s just going to be different.”
Langley City Mayor Nathan Pachal said he was relieved that fire crews had successfully contained the blaze to the one building.
He said the historic one-way section of Fraser Highway, which includes McBurney Plaza and Salt Lane Plaza, is more than 100 years old.
“There’s many older buildings and unfortunately a lot of them were built before modern fire standards and fire sprinklers and all that,” Pachal told CBC News.
“It saddens me, as [well as] our whole community, to see the devastation caused by the fire but it is also good that businesses around the area survived,” he added.
The mayor said the two-storey commercial building along the highway, home to the popular Mexican restaurant, also housed a physiotherapy clinic and several office spaces.
The Viva Mexico restaurant in the McBurney Plaza area is likely gutted after a Saturday morning fire, according to Teri James, the executive director of the Downtown Langley Business Improvement Association.
“There might have been folks who have fond memories of that establishment as well, it’s been a restaurant that’s been, I guess, well known in our community since before I lived here,” he added.
City crews have already begun demolishing the fire-damaged building, according to Pachal.
CBC News has reached out to Langley Fire Rescue for this story. An RCMP spokesperson confirmed a fire had been reported in the downtown core, but deferred comment to the fire service.
