Multiple homes destroyed in East Vancouver blaze Monday night

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services were called to a blaze in East Vancouver Monday evening after multiple houses caught fire.

Forty-four firefighters were battling the blaze, which took over seven hours to extinguish, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services Chief Karen Fry told CTV News.

The blaze broke out just before 8 p.m. on the 1000 Block of East Pender Street.

Fry said the fire, which could be seen erupting metres into the sky above other homes in the Strathcona neighbourhood, had quickly spread from one home to four others.

“The homes here are really close together and it moved from one house to the other,” she said.

Located one block away from East Hastings Street, East Pender Street and the streets surrounding it comprise a mix of businesses and multi-residential homes. The engulfed homes could have contained single families or multiple renters, said Fry.

“We’re looking at quite a large displacement here,” she said.

While the cause is still to be determined, Fry said the fire looks to have started outside one of the homes.

Paramedics told CTV News one patient was treated on scene.