A fire that ripped through the Lakeland Flowers bunkhouse in rural Abbotsford Thursday morning has displaced 78 Mexican farmworkers.
The Mexican consulate confirmed that there were no casualties or injuries. The fire broke out at around 9:30 after the workers had already left and high winds fanned the flames.
"The fire took off and spread very quickly and it's about a 15 minute run out here for our first crew to get on scene," said Abbotsford Fire Deputy Chief Jeff Adams. "We ended up setting up a defensive attack and knocking it down from the outside."
The owner of Lakeland Flowers expressed relief that none of the Mexican nationals was hurt.
"They're doing fine," said Alexis Warmerdam. "Instead of thinking about the fire they wanted to go out in the field again and that's what they're doing."
Aviso: Incendio en Lakeland Flowers, Abbotsford, CB., con 78 trabajadores agrícolas temporales de México. No hay víctimas, los trabajadores están siendo reasignados . El Consulado de México está presente y apoyando.<br>Teléfono del PTAT: 604 682 7617. PTAT Emergencias: 778 668 1242
—@ConsuladoMexVanStaff from the Mexican consulate in Vancouver were on scene to monitor the situation and help with emergency arrangements.
"The main thing is that there was a fire alarm system and that [the workers] are all well," said Hugo Valezquez, consular officer with the Seasonal Agriculture Workers' Program.
Valezquez said all the workers had insurance as part of their contracts, and that this office would be re-issuing passports and paperwork as needed.
Neighbours step up
Neighbours have already stepped forward to provide temporary accommodation for the 78 workers.
"At 10 o'clock I had 70 guys with nowhere to sleep tonight and at 12 o'clock I had five farms offering up beds in the local area, so we're really grateful for that," said Warmerdam.
Lakeland Farms has another week of tulip season before moving into field peony season which will lead to a reduction in its workforce.
"We'll probably be transferring 10 or 15 guys to other farms or back to Mexico, but we'll still need 50 or so on site. So we'll be looking for some rental housing in the meantime and trying to figure out the best way to rebuild."
With files from Belle Puri