3 homes evacuated after landslide in South Vancouver
Three homes in South Vancouver were evacuated Thursday morning after a landslide near a construction site on Southwest Marine Drive.
Firefighters and police were called to the scene shortly after 9 a.m., according to Ken Gemmill, assistant chief of operations for Vancouver Fire Rescue Service.
Gemmill said the slide itself, which he described as "kind of an earth collapse," happened early in the morning.
Three properties on Tugboat Place - which is below the property where the slide began, closer to the bank of the Fraser River - had to be evacuated, Gemmill said.
"One of the lots, the whole backyard was encased in dirt and trees," he said.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the landslide.
Stephen Jang was one of the people evacuated. He told CTV News he heard a loud boom around 4:30 a.m. When he went outside, he saw the dirt and vegetation that had slid into his backyard, taking out a retaining wall along the way.
"It just seems that there was an erosion in the bank here and the tree and some of the soil shifted downwards and into my backyard," he said.
Jang said it appears that the slide happened in the greenbelt that separates his property from Casa Mia, the mansion on Southwest Marine Drive that's currently being converted into a long-term care home.
Gemmill said engineers from the City of Vancouver were called to assess the construction site and the three evacuated properties.
"The house above, which is on Southwest Marine Drive, is quite a large house," he said. "It's getting redeveloped now, so there's quite a lot of heavy construction going on on the lot. That may or may not have had bearing on why there was a collapse, but again, the City of Vancouver engineers are assessing the situation."
"The good thing is that everyone's safe," he added. "We got people out of their homes that were at risk."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.