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VIDEO: Suspicious van fire on Railway Avenue makes at least 5 incidents over 3 months in Chilliwack

Chilliwack fire crews dispatched to several fires that destroyed a truck, a van, a house and more

Chilliwack fire crews were called to a vehicle fire on Railway Avenue in the early hours of Monday (Feb. 6) morning.

It was at least the fifth such incident on the heels of several suspicious fires called in to Chilliwack Fire Department on Railway and Alexander avenues in recent months.

Crews were called to a pickup truck on fire Jan. 23 on Railway Avenue, which was the fourth fire in about a two-block radius in the previous three months. Fire crews were at the scene at 45890 Railway Ave. directing water to douse a black pickup truck on fire at the back of the lot close to the CN Rail line.

RELATED: Pickup truck fire on Railway

The fire on Monday (Feb. 6) was on the same lot as the Jan. 23 fire in an abandoned work van. Detritus on scene included clothing, personal belongings, and needles.

After a small fire was reported on Oct. 24, 2022 behind Ken’s Tire and Wheel nearby, fire destroyed a vacant house on Alexander Avenue on Nov. 1, 2022 just one block from the Jan. 23 fire.

RELATED: Early-morning vacant house fire

A tire shop employee said there was another small fire nearby around that time, and then on Dec. 28, 2022 there was yet another vehicle blaze in an Alexander Avenue parking lot next to the business.

A cube van that caught fire in a parking lot on Alexander Avenue was the third fire in a small area in recent months in downtown Chilliwack. They all happened where three neighbouring properties meet at Alexander and Railway avenues.

RELATED: Cube van fire in December was third reported

Neither the Chilliwack Fire Department nor the Chilliwack RCMP have made any connection between these fires, or any public statements about them in recent months in the area.

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Jennifer Feinberg

About the Author: Jennifer Feinberg

I have been a Chilliwack Progress reporter for 20+ years, covering the arts, city hall, as well as Indigenous, and climate change stories.
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