Firefighters say Hastings Street tent occupants made battling SRO blaze challenging

Firefighters say 10 people have been displaced after a fire in an SRO hotel on the Downtown Eastside Friday night.

Crews were called to the building on the corner of Hastings and Columbia streets just after 8 p.m., according to Ken Gemmill, assistant chief of operations for the Vancouver Fire Rescue Service.

Gemmill said the number of tents on Hastings Street in front of the building made firefighters' initial attack on the blaze challenging.

"It was mayhem at the beginning," he said, adding that some residents of the tents refused to move to allow easier access for fire crews.

"We had to call Vancouver police for backup."

The fire was primarily located in a unit on the second floor of the building, overlooking Hastings Street.

That unit suffered significant damage from smoke and fire, while other rooms in the building and the convenience store on the ground floor suffered water damage, Gemmill said.

He said 11 firefighters responded to the blaze, which was knocked down quickly thanks, in part, to the building's sprinkler system.

While crews received reports of people inside the building when they began fighting the fire, everyone made it out safely and no injuries have been reported, according to Gemmill.

On Saturday, firefighters said the blaze began on a mattress that was positioned near a window in one of the units. Exactly what caused the mattress to catch fire is still under investigation, crews said.