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
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.