LangleyAdvance
Firefighters mourn pg A3
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Friday, January 7, 2011
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Fort Langley
Mounties dub blaze suspicious Police find evidence of an attempted break-in at IGA.
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The fire that gutted a venerable Fort Langley business Tuesday morning was likely started during an attempted break-in, police say. Windows on the building’s
north side were broken, and someone had cut through metal bars trying to get into the store, said Cpl. Holly Marks, spokesperson for the Langley RCMP. The attempt to cut through the bars may have actually started the fire, Marks said.
Police are holding back details about how the bars were cut while the investigation continues. The IGA Marketplace at Glover Road and Mavis Avenue caught fire sometime around 5:30 a.m. A passing Langley Township worker salting the roads was the first
to call 911 after seeing smoke. “At first it was billowing smoke,” said Diane Morrison, the owner of Wendel’s Bookstore and Cafe. From the shop, directly across Glover from the IGA, she watched as the first firefighters arrived and entered the building. Not long after, the fire really began to get going.
continued on page A5…
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Township fire crews spent hours in Fort Langley Tuesday, battling the blaze that levelled the Marketplace IGA. See more pictures online at www. langleyadvance.com, as well as on page A5. There are also letters on the topic on page A9.
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Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance
Community rallies after devastating loss
Residents of Fort Langley expressed sadness over the destruction of a cornerstone business. by Matthew Claxton mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
Treeland Realty
Members of the family that owned and ran the Fort Langley IGA for decades are reeling after a fire destroyed the building Tuesday. Charlie Lee, the nephew of the Fort IGA owner Robert Lee, said he was shocked to hear of the fire. Charlie worked in the store in the Fort starting at the age of 10.
“A lot of memories and hurt,” he said of the make it out of the neighbourhood to another effects of the fire. store. However, the whole family has pulled Charlie said his store already does deliveries together since the fire, and the community of groceries, and they’ll expand that as needhas shown a tremendous amount of ed to Fort Langley. support, said Charlie. Meanwhile, Robert Lee is still busy A huge number of people have with the fallout of the fire, and with come forward to offer help, Lee said. managing his other store, the Langley Charlie currently owns and operates City IGA. He was not available to speak the Walnut Grove Marketplace IGA. with the Langley Advance before deadline. Fort Langley’s Business Improvement He said his store will fill some of the COMMENT gap left behind by the destruction of ONLINE Association offered its support. “The IGA has been an important part the Fort’s only grocery store. of Fort Langley, and a stable employer of A number of senior citizens in Fort Langley many local residents,” said BIA president Stan depended on groceries from the IGA, as it Duckworth. was the only store within walking distance. continued on page A6… Some of them don’t drive any more and can’t www.langleyadvance.com
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Langley teen charged with making porn of a Pitt Meadows rave sex assault. See story, page A7…