A fire Thursday night at the Golden Ears Hotel caused $50,000 in damages and forced the evacuation of approximately 30 guests.

Port Coquitlam Fire Chief Randy Shaw said four fire trucks and about 25 firefighters arrived at the Shaughnessy Street hotel just after 10:30 p.m., and the officer in charge saw smoke coming from the third floor.

Shaw said the fire, caused by faulty wiring to an appliance plugged into the manager's office, was controlled by the hotel's sprinkler system and quickly extinguished.

A cleaning woman suffered smoke inhalation during the blaze, and was transported to Eagle Ridge Hospital. She was released several hours later.

While firefighters were still at the hotel, a call came in about a boxcar fire at the CP Rail yard at Oxford Street and Lougheed Highway. Shaw said that after learning about the second blaze, the fire department put out a call for off-duty firefighters to supplement on-duty crews.

Shaw said while the boxcar fire is not considered suspicious, it is under investigation.

About eight firefighters responded to that blaze, which caused extensive damage to the contents of the boxcar. Shaw said the nature of the boxcar - steel construction with limited entry - made the fire difficult to extinguish.