Vancouver residents remain out of their homes after huge fire, crane collapse | CBC News (2024)

Isaac Phan Nay · CBC News

· Posted: Aug 07, 2024 11:49 AM EDT | Last Updated: August 8

Residents in Vancouver's West Side are still waiting to return to their homesthe morning after a fire at a construction site on Tuesday evening spread onto neighbouring houses and toppled a crane.

Vancouver Emergency Support Services says it has registered 81 people who were evacuated from their homesdue to the fires and subsequent crane collapse.

While some residents have since returned home, support services are currently housing at least 37 people in hotels as of Wednesday afternoon.

"We know not everyone displaced may have registered with the ESS; many people are staying with friends or family, and more people may reach out requiring support," a City of Vancouver spokesperson said in a statement to CBC.

WATCH | Two brothers help fight huge Vancouver house fire:

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) Chief Karen Frysaid at a news conference Wednesday that it's not clear yet what caused the fire to ignite around 6:30 p.m. PT — or what caused the construction crane to collapse into a housein the Dunbar neighbourhood.

When thesix-storey wooden frame of a building under construction caught fire, 11-year-old Alice Kviselius was in the kitchen of her nearby home waiting for her mother to makedinner.

"I was home with my little brother. He pointed through the kitchen window, and said, 'Look, there's a fire,'" Alice told CBC News on Wednesday."We heard a lot of boomsfrom the crane and wood falling down."

Her father, Mioi Sawada,had just returned home from work and, by around 7 p.m. PT, decidedto get everyone out of the house.His family also helped their 95-year-old neighbour evacuate.

Sawada said he and his familywatched the fire from down the street.

"The heat was insane. It was so uncomfortable that I didn't want to go any closer," he said. "It was like getting too close to a campfire."

WATCH | Fire was so intense it ignited other fires nearby:

By Wednesday morning,abouta dozen firefighters were still at the scene ensuring hotspots didn't reignite the flames, VFRS said.

The crane was still lying in the street, and West 41st Avenueremained closed from Collingwood Street to Dunbar Street.

Fry saidthe crane, on the east end of the block, crashed into a house,but firefighters brought one resident out safely through a window.

Embersspread the flames to several houses in the area, Fry said, and firefighters were able to save all homes except two — one directly next to the initial fire, and one several blocks away.

No residents were injured, buta couple of firefighters suffered minor injuries, VFRS said.

In an email Wednesday, the provincial workplace regulator WorkSafeBCtold CBC News that an officer was on the scene and investigating.

'The fire was really crazy'

SlavaShegaisaid he was about to sit down for dinner with his family Tuesday evening, when his neighbours told him the construction site wason fire.

While at firsthe went to watch, he said he quickly realized the fire was dangerous.He and his partner collected their four children and left.

"The fire was really crazy," he said.

Video from the scene shows flames rising above the tops of the trees that linethe neighbourhood, and a pillar of black smoke rising into the air.

Shegai said it looked like firefighters had mostly extinguished the flames by about 11 p.m. PT.

Sawada said the streets nearby werepacked with people.

"It was crazy the number of people that was here," hesaid. "It was just so hot. There were embers falling everywhere."

Unsafe to return home for now

Sawada said he and his familywaitedto see if they would be allowed back in their home that night. They weren't.

The City ofVancouver directed displaced residents to Crofton House School at 3200 W.41st Ave., where city staff were on site to provide assistance.

While neither Sawada'snor Shegai's family's homewas damaged in the fire, firefighters told them Wednesday morningit still wasn't safe to return.

Shegai was able to retrieve a suitcase of essentials from his home Wednesday after his family spent the night in a hotel.

"It's a big stress for the family, because we have small kids. Everyone was a little bit scared," he said. "We didn't sleep well, we're exhausted, but we are figuring out what's next."

Sawada's family also spent the night in a hotel, before returning home briefly around 10 a.m. PT to collect a few important belongings. They're now planning to stay with family until it's deemed safe to return home.

"The firefighters did a great job," Sawada said. "We're going to decompress a little bit, try to get everything together, and then try to figure out the next steps."

B.C. Hydro said the crane also crashed through power lines, causing anoutage that affected 760 customers on Tuesday night. By around 2 p.m. PT Wednesday, around 130 were still without power.

2nd major fire within hours

The fire broke out a few hours after an abandoned apartment block in East Vancouver went up in flames.

Mayor Ken Sim said in an unrelated news conference that the two fires around the same time stretched the department's resources "incredibly thin."

He said his heart goes out to all those affected by the fires.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|