Fire breaks out in downtown Vancouver SRO hotel

First responders at the scene of a fire in downtown Vancouver on Friday night.

There was a large first-responder presence on downtown Vancouver’s West Pender Street Friday night after a fire broke out in a single room occupancy hotel.

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services got the call just after 8 p.m. and 30 firefighters attended the scene, Asst. Chief Keith Stewart told CTV News.

The fire broke out in one of the suites at Avalon Hotel, and there was heavy smoke in the hallway of the second floor, he said.

No injuries were reported.

There is no word on the cause of the fire and an investigation is underway.

According to data from VFRS, there were 233 structure fires at SROs last year, more than double the amount of fires in 2016, when there were 104. In 2022, there were also 380 “fire incidents” at SROs, defined as any VFRS response involving fire, with or without damage.

Seventy per cent of fire incidents at SROs were caused by smoking materials and the mishandling of lighters, candles and matches.

SRO fires made up 11 per cent of all fires VFRS responded to in 2022, up from 7 per cent in 2016.

In January, Vancouver city council approved a $110,000 grant for a fire safety pilot project in 18 SRO buildings, run by the Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative Society. And in May the provincial government said it would provide $11 million in funding to the non-profit for three years of life-skills training programs, which include fire safety training.