Firefighters battle overnight blaze at abandoned 'party' house in Horseshoe Bay
Fire crews from two cities spent Thursday night battling a blaze at an abandoned house in Horseshoe Bay.
Chief Karen Fry posted a photo on social media of the efforts to fight the fire from the water, saying crews with Vancouver Fire Rescue Service had been "working hard all night" assisting firefighters from the West Vancouver.
In an email Friday morning, Assistant Chief Keith Stewart said the request for the VFRS fire boat came in at 11:30 p.m. because the fire was "fully involved" and nearly impossible to access on the ground.
"The structure was very close to the water and had limited to no road access with steep terrain and thus the need for the fire boat," he said, noting that the West Vancouver Department was the lead agency responding to the blaze.
A spokesperson for WVFR, in a statement, said a BC Ferries passenger called 911 to report the fire around 11 p.m. She also described some of the challenges crews faced trying to contain and extinguish the fire. The department sent three engines, along with a wildfire truck and a tower truck to the scene before calling in support from the water, it said, adding that the fire boat was "effective" in fighting the flames.
"After the initial knockdown of the fire using the fire boat, West Vancouver fire crews deployed wildfire pumps and hose, using water from the ocean, to establish control lines to extinguish spot fires and continue to action the structure fire that, although under control, was still burning," the emailed statement explained.
"Crews worked through the night to maintain control lines and keep water on the fire."
In addition to municipal firefighters, the BC Wildfire Service, Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue, and the West Vancouver Police Department were called in to assist.
No one was found during a search of the house and surrounding area. No injuries have been reported but WVFR says paramedics were on standby through the night because the challenging terrain raised concerns for firefighter safety.
As of Friday morning, the fire was under control with crews working to put out hot spots.
West Vancouver officials have confirmed that the house that burned down is the same one that was dubbed a "party house with a view" by a local photographer on Twitter.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Your father’s diet before you were born could have affected your health, a new study suggests
Your father's diet before you were born could have played a role in your health, a new study has found.
Ottawa Food Bank receives largest donation in its 40-year history
210,000 pounds of food was delivered to the Ottawa Food Bank on Saturday, the largest donation in its 40-year history.
Singh 'more alarmed' after reading report, but won't break from Liberal-NDP agreement
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he is 'even more alarmed than before' after reading the un-redacted report alleging there are MPs and senators who are participating to some degree in foreign interference efforts.
Joe Alwyn says breakup with Taylor Swift was 'a hard thing to navigate'
Joe Alwyn is speaking publicly for the first time about the end of his years-long relationship with Taylor Swift.
Clooney and Roberts help Biden raise US$30 million-plus at a star-studded Hollywood gala
Some of Hollywood's brightest stars headlined a fundraiser for U.S. President Joe Biden that took in a record US$30 million-plus for a Democratic candidate, according to his campaign, in hopes of energizing would-be supporters for a White House contest they said may rank among the most consequential in U.S. history.
Prince William shares childhood photo of him and King Charles III for Father's Day
Prince William on Sunday shared a photograph showing him as a child with his father, King Charles III, to mark Father’s Day in the United Kingdom this year.
Global study ranks two Canadian cities high on list of most expensive places to buy a home
As Canadians continue to struggle with the extremely high cost of buying a home in some of the country’s major urban centres, a new global report is underscoring just how expensive some of those markets are.
'We're in pretty good shape': Calgary goes low in water consumption after state of local emergency declared
On a day that a local state of emergency was declared in Calgary, city residents answered a request from the mayor and emergency officials to use less water.
A new tax filing system could give Canadians more than $1 billion in unclaimed benefits: PBO
Canadians would get more than $1 billion in unclaimed benefits each year through an automatic tax filing system, according to a report published by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).