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
BREAKING NEWS Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'