VANCOUVER -- A man in his 70s, who was sent to hospital after an apartment fire in Vancouver’s West End, has died from his injuries.
The man’s apartment was on the 11th floor of a 23-storey building on Gilford Street near Comox Street, said Trevor Connelly, assistant fire chief.
Crews could see smoke coming from the building when they arrived on scene shortly after 6 p.m. on Saturday.
“They proceeded up, and then they found when they got to the 11th floor – they found smoke in the hallway, and they entered the suite that was on fire and they found really heavy thick black smoke,” he said.
So, they entered and began a search.
“Part of our procedures is to search as we enter, when they were searching they found the gentleman and removed him from the suite.”
Firefighters administered first aid until they were able to transfer the man to the care of paramedics, who were also on scene. Connelly said the man was conscious when they found him, but had sustained 2nd and 3rd degree burns. He was admitted to hospital, but later died.
The building was built in the 1960s, Connelly said.
Connelley said that a neighbour had heard the smoke alarm going off in the man’s suite and pulled the building-wide fire alarm. Had his neighbour not acted quickly, many more might have also been put in danger.
“We're obviously very sad and our hearts go out to this gentleman's friends, family and neighbors,” he said.
