3 suspicious fires spark East Vancouver investigation
Residents fled a home after they were woken up by crackling of flames
Police and fire officials are looking for links between three fires that appeared to be deliberately set in East Vancouver on Monday morning.
The first fire was reported at the back of a home near the intersection of Inverness Street and East 29th Avenue around 1 a.m PT.
The crackling sound was loud enough to wake up some of the residents, according to a statement released by Vancouver Fire and Rescue.
Four people were able to escape and call firefighters, who managed to put the fire out — but not before considerable damage was caused to the rear of the home.
"The house fire was significant enough to displace the owners of the home," said Assistant Fire Chief John Dennis in the statement.
McBride Elementary School damaged
While at the house fire, the firefighters learned of a second fire a few blocks away at Sir Richard McBride Elementary School.
When they arrived they found someone had piled some items against the back wall of the school and then set them on fire.
The smoke from the fire set off alarms and sprinklers inside the school, which caused some minor damage.
Firefighters also reported a third fire outside a garage in the same neighbourhood.
Dennis said all three fires are suspicious and police and fire investigators are looking into the causes and who might be responsible.
Nobody was injured in any of the fires.
Google Maps: Inverness Street and 29th Avenue, Vancouver