Crews battle fire at vacant building in Vancouver's Strathcona neighbourhood

A fire tore through a vacant building on East Hastings Street in Vancouver's Strathcona neighbourhood Sunday morning, prompting a major firefighting response and a public smoke advisory.

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) says crews responded just before 10 a.m. at a vacant building located between Glen Drive and Vernon Drive, which was slated for demolition.

"Upon arrival there was heavy smoke showing,… the fire was coming through the windows and starting to make its way through the roof," said Acting Asst. Chief Wesley Abrams. "It was very well involved when crews showed up."

The three-storey building, located next to the Pink Pearl Chinese Restaurant, was boarded up and structurally compromised, which made firefighting efforts particularly challenging, Abrams said. 

Crews spent about four hours putting out the blaze.

"The older structure with the heavier timbers, once the fire gets underway, it is very hard to extinguish," he added.

Abrams said firefighters escalated the response to a second alarm, bringing in more than 30 firefighters, four ladder trucks, four engines and rescue teams.

"There's already been a partial collapse on the ... alley side of the building, and that is a concern for us," Abrams said in an interview.

The extent of the fire meant crews were unable to attack the flames from the inside and instead worked to contain the fire from outside the building, he said.

No injuries have been reported, says Abrams, but the heavy smoke prompted the evacuation of a nearby building. By late Sunday, conditions had improved enough to allow residents to return home.

"Anyone with chronic breathing problems would find them exacerbated by this type of smoke and flames," he said.

The City of Vancouver issued a public advisory warning of "heavy smoke in Strathcona," urging people to avoid the area near Hastings and Vernon Drive.

The structure was previously used as single-room occupancy (SRO) but sat empty for several years, according to Saul Schwebs, the city's chief building official. He said the city had ordered it vacated over structural concerns.

Schwebs confirmed the building is owned by developer Westbank Corp., which has an active rezoning application for the site. He said the owner will bear the cost of demolition.

Part of the building's rear has already collapsed, and demolition crews will also be tasked with confirming no one was inside when the fire broke out.

"Given the nature of vacant buildings in the city right now, we can't assume that they're vacant," said Schwebs. "We do need to keep that in mind when we're doing this work."

By 6:30 p.m., fire officials say the building had been reduced to a pile of rubble and the site was taped off. As part of the demolition process, crews conducted an inspection to ensure no one had been inside at the time of the fire. VFRS confirmed the structure was completely empty.

Gilles Cyrenne, who lives on the same block, said he feared his own building was affected when he saw pictures of the fire.

"I was really scared," said Cyrenne. "I've got a studio, I've got artwork, I've got my computer … and a huge library."

He said the building had been frequented by squatters after it was first vacated a few years ago, but in recent months it had been well secured and appeared to be empty.

There is no word yet on the cause of the fire, but it is under investigation.