Errant drivers sever fire hose during house fire in South Vancouver, leading to warnings

Firefighters in Vancouver are calling for motorists to pay more attention after drivers drove over a fire hose during an active fire in South Vancouver on Friday, severing the hose and sending jets of water flying.

Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services were responding to a house fire at the intersection of Ash Street and 61st Avenue around 9 a.m. Friday.

The fire saw one person displaced, but no injuries were reported. The displaced person lived in the house's basement suite, according to officials. The upstairs wing of the house was undergoing renovations.

During the firefighting efforts, emergency responders hooked up a fire hose — officially called a "supply line" —  to a fire hydrant across the busy Cambie Street.

Assistant Fire Chief Richard Warnock said multiple cars subsequently drove over the line. It led to the hose bursting, and water flying across the street.

"We had to go back to defensive at that time, to bring everybody out — just in case we lost the full line," Warnock said. "It kind of set us back a bit."

Firefighters eventually had to shut down the damaged line, according to Warnock, and had to set up another supply line.

"I advise anybody coming up to a fire line hose ... not to drive over it," he said. "It can set the fire suppression back, if we lose the whole line, as well as put our guys inside the building in danger."

More than 20 firefighters responded to the blaze, and roads around the intersection were blocked early Friday morning.