Apartment fire in downtown Vancouver displaces residents

Several people were displaced from their homes Tuesday night after a fire sparked in a downtown Vancouver apartment building.

Smoke was seen coming out of the top floor windows of a building on Nelson Street near Thurlow Street at about 8 p.m. The building was evacuated, and many residents were spotted carrying pets out as well.

Crews initially responded to reports of a woman screaming "fire" from the seventh floor and one resident of the building called the situation their "nightmare scenario."

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services said the building's fire alarms worked, but the unit where the fire started didn't have a working smoke detector.

"We were unable to find the occupant of the suite, apparently that woman left the structure," assistant chief Keith Stewart told CTV News Vancouver. "We did a primary search of the building, we could not find her. We also did a secondary search but the manager has since got a hold of the occupant and she's on her way back and she's uninjured."

Everyone got out of the building safely, but about six units took on water and fire damage, displacing residents of those units.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.