Firefighters have doused a house fire that broke out early Sunday morning in Vancouver, but can't yet say whether anyone was inside because the property is too cluttered.
Deputy Chief Les Sziklai said 40 firefighters and eight trucks surrounded the home, located in the 700-block of W. 23rd Ave., but were unable to get inside.
"They tried to enter the front door. They couldn't," Sziklai said. "The only way they could fight the fire was from outside."
Crews eventually managed to extinguish the blaze, but still haven't been able to safely enter and find out if the anyone was inside.
Neighbours say the owner's son only lived there part time, but that the family had been hoarding boxes in the property for decades.
"I don't think it's changed much in 20 years. It used to be a real mess outside but it's been tidied up," neighbour Stan Bodlak said.
"I'm surprised the city let it go for as long as it did. You know, it must've been a real hazard as it was and it's lucky nothing else got burned.
Vancouver Coastal Health, the city and the fire department are in discussions about developing a system to deal with extreme hoarding. Sziklai says even if they're reported, these cases are very difficult to treat.
"If we remove their items or just have them evicted, they go somewhere else," he said. "They typically just recollect, re-hoard faster than before."
Sziklai said the address of Sunday's fire is not in the department's records.
The cause has not been determined.
