Firefighters arrived to the scene of a large fire to see smoke pouring from the roof, which collapsed because of flames

A 36-year-old man has life-threatening injuries, 'consistent from a fire'. Not being linked to fire yet

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – A man is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after a fire tore through a Surrey pub and liquor store Thursday morning. The blaze is now being deemed suspicious.

Fire crews say an explosion and fire broke out at the Jack’s Public House and Jak’s cold beer and wine store on 152nd Street just before 3:00 a.m.

The Surrey RCMP says witnesses reported seeing someone run from the building just after an explosion.

“We quickly had our Police Dog Service unit on scene, who conducted tracks and searches of the area but were unable to locate this individual,” Sgt. Chad Greig explains.

About an hour after the fire was reported, Greig says the BC Ambulance Service was called to a home in the Guildford area for reports of a man with injuries “consistent from a fire.”

The 36-year-old, from Surrey, was taken to hospital with serious life-threatening injuries.

Mounties would not comment on what kind of injuries were sustained. It’s unclear if this man was the person seen running from the scene of the fire by witnesses earlier in the morning.

“I don’t have information at this point to determine what his relationship is to this file, be it a suspect, be it a victim, be it a witness. The investigators will work to determine that.”

Roof collapsed

The scene sits right across the road from a fire department, meaning crews were able to get to it quite quickly.

“Crews on scene arrived with smoke showing,” Battalion Chief Brian Carmichael tells NEWS 1130. “Shortly thereafter, flames breached through the roof.”

Now I can see in the light of day, it's Jack's Public House and in the same building Jak's cold beer and wine store. Entire building destroyed by fire this morning. #Surrey @NEWS1130 pic.twitter.com/jCK7xw5tb8 — Ash Kelly (@AshDKelly) April 11, 2019

He says the roof collapsed just minutes after the large fire broke through the top of the building.

“We called it a defensive fire, second-alarm, with 20 firefighters on scene,” he adds.

The large fire forced crews to shut down 152nd Street between Fraser Highway and 92nd Avenue for a few hours as firefighters worked to knock it down. The road has since reopened.

Crews were also forced to cut power to the neighbouring strip mall as they worked to fight the fire. The electricity has since been restored.

Meantime, a silver SUV was seen being towed away from the scene in front of the pub followed by a number of police cruisers, but it’s unclear if it is related to the investigation.

“Our investigators will continue to work with the Surrey Fire Department to determine a cause of why this explosion and fire occurred,” Greig says.

No arrests have been made.