Firefighters called to 3rd-alarm blaze on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside

Vancouver firefighters are on scene trying to knock down a blaze that broke out at a building on the Downtown Eastside that was destroyed earlier this year in a suspected arson.

Around 12:30 p.m., Vancouver Fire Rescue Services asked people to avoid the area near East Hastings and Columbia streets. In a post soon after, the department said crews were operating at 175 East Hastings Street – a building that houses the Street Church.

Information officer Matthew Trudeau told CTV News that the department is making progress containing the fire.

"Our crews did arrive to find heavy smoke coming from the roof, and flames at the back of the structure at the roofline," he said.

"We've knocked down a significant amount of flames and most of the smoke is starting to dissipate."

The cause and origin of the fire, he added, are still under investigation.

However, the priority remains making sure the fire doesn’t spread to the adjacent buildings – the notoriously dilapidated and vacant Balmoral Hotel and the Hotel Maple, an occupied SRO with 81 units.

"At this time, we don’t believe we have any fire spread," he said. "we don’t have any reports of anyone missing or any injuries."

However, he also said that a full search of the burning building was not possible due to prior damage. The building was boarded up and fenced off after a fire over the summer that authorities said at the time left it "completely gutted."

That fire in July came dangerously close to spreading to the neighbouring buildings, and temporarily displaced dozens of tenants.

In September, police said that investigators later determined the fire was deliberately set and found video that appears to show three suspects.