11 people left homeless after fire tears through East Vancouver homes

Multiple families have lost their homes after a fire tore through three properties in an East Vancouver neighbourhood Monday night.

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services said crews were called to the 1000 block of East Pender Street around 7:50 p.m., and that 55 firefighters were needed to put out the blaze and keep it from spreading any further.

"We were already encountering very heavy flames, very heavy smoke, rapid fire progression that already occurred throughout the structures, so it really about limiting what was already damaged,” said Capt. Matthew Trudeau.

Naomi Stinton, her husband and two young children are among those who have been displaced.

Stinton said they had just finished eating dinner when she heard what she thought were fireworks coming from the back part of their home – but when she headed back there to take a look, she quickly discovered that wasn’t the case.

“The roof of the deck was on fire,” she told CTV News.

"It was so fast – it was less than 10 minutes from just the deck being on fire to our house ablaze.”

The four of them were able to make it out safely. All of their belongings, however, were destroyed.

“My husband didn’t even have a shirt, no shoes. I had no shoes, I was wearing my son’s crocks. My son was barefoot, my daughter was barefoot – and that’s all we have, that’s it.”

VFRS said two people were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene but there were no major injuries.

What exactly caused the fire remains unknown.

“We’re still working with investigators to determine cause and origin for this fire right now, that’s what were really trying to focus on,” said Trudeau.

A gas line was also damaged during the fire, and several houses in the area remained without gas as of Tuesday afternoon.

Stinton said she isn’t sure where her family will stay for the time being, and that they did not have tenants insurance.

“Probably like a lot of tenants in Vancouver, it’s something we couldn’t afford. Every month we’re in the red,” she said.

An online fundraiser, titled “Family lost their house in fire” and organized by Cynthia Farrell, has been created to help the family get back on their feet.

VFRS is encouraging everyone to make sure they have working smoke alarms, but said it’s not yet known if that was a factor in this incident.