VANCOUVER -- A deadly fire in East Vancouver last year was caused by a leak in a hot-water heater that had been modified - against manufacturer specifications - to heat oil instead, according to a report from WorkSafeBC.

The fire at a food preparation business on Pandora Street near Commercial Drive on Nov. 13, 2019 claimed the life of a 65-year-old man.

According to WorkSafeBC, the man was doing paperwork upstairs at the juice-manufacturing plant when the fire began. All other workers had left for the day, and the worker had started the pasteurization process, which involved the modified heater, WorkSafeBC's report indicates.

The report says the heater was modified several years before the incident. Because it was designed to heat water, rather than a combustible product, the gas burner at the bottom of the unit was not fully enclosed. When oil leaked from the top of the tank, it ran down under the insulation to the burner, where it ignited, the report says.

It goes on to note that the company was warned about the dangers of the modified equipment.

"The conversion of the gas-fired water heater to an oil heater was against the manufacturer’s specifications as the hot water heater was rated and certified for heating water only," WorkSafeBC's report reads. "Approximately two years before the incident, a mechanical contractor had advised the employer that this was not a safe way to heat oil, but the employer did not replace the modified hot water heater."

Once the fire ignited, there was plenty of fuel and oxygen available for it to spread, according to WorkSafeBC's report.

The report cites melted clamps that allowed more oil to reach the fire, as well as a bucket of oily rags in the compressor room that would have helped it grow in its early stages. The room where the fire began was not closed off from the rest of the facility, meaning there was an ample supply of oxygen to feed the flames, according to the report.

The worker who died in the fire was exposed to smoke and fumes that likely overwhelmed him before he realized what was happening, fire investigators said at the time of the blaze.

More than 50 firefighters worked for three to four hours to put out the three-alarm fire.