Fire tears through Vancouver church, art gallery; supportive housing building evacuated
Dozens of people have been displaced after an intense, third-alarm fire on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside Wednesday night.
The flames spread quickly, destroying two buildings and triggering an hours-long fight for crews.
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services says it started around 9 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from Street Church, a community church and outreach centre near East Hastings and Main streets.
The church is located in a heritage building at 169 East Hastings St., built in 1904 for pharmacists, according to a website dedicated to historic architecture in Canada.
“Upon arrival, we found a building fully involved in flames. We tried to make an offensive attack, but the heat and the smoke and the collapse was just too great for our crews to risk it so we had to go defensive,” said Asst. Chief Brian Bertuzzi of Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.
The flames then spread to an art gallery next door.
Bertuzzi says no one was inside either building, but the neighbouring Maple Hotel, which is supportive housing, had to be evacuated.
“We've had to evacuate 80 occupants and they've been put up in housing for the night and possibly tomorrow night until we can find it safe for them to go back into their building,” said the assistant chief.
Fifty firefighters and 12 trucks spent hours fighting the blaze and were still putting out hotspots Thursday morning.
“We had flames and just heavy rolling black. Just ugly smoke and our crews did just a great job. Everybody's exhausted,” said Bertuzzi Thursday morning.
One firefighter was hurt and was taken to hospital as a precaution for a wrist injury. No members of the public were injured.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
East Hastings Street was closed between Main and Columbia streets while crews completed their work. It reopened for a time, but Vancouver firefighters said later it was closed again in both directions.
Crews were still extinguishing "remaining smouldering areas" as of 10:30 a.m.
The city's fire chief posted about her appreciation for those at the scene Thursday morning, writing that she wanted to thank firefighters "for their amazing hard work last night.”
"This fire in the heart of the (Downtown Eastside) was against a much needed residential building," she said, praising their work to save it.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza's vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife's edge.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
Highlights from the 2024 Met Gala exhibit: Sleeping Beauty would wake up for these gowns
Sure, she was a royal princess and all. But there’s no way Sleeping Beauty — either before or after her nap — ever had quite the fabulous wardrobe that’s been assembled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Noelia Voigt resigns as Miss USA, citing her mental health
Noelia Voigt, who was crowned Miss USA in November 2023, has announced she is resigning from her role, saying the decision is in the best interest of her mental health.
Putin begins his fifth term as president, more in control of Russia than ever
Vladimir Putin began his fifth term Tuesday as Russian leader at a glittering Kremlin inauguration, setting out on another six years in office after destroying his political opponents, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and concentrating all power in his hands.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.