One person in serious condition after East Van apartment fire

First responders at the scene of a fire in East Vancouver on Sunday, Feb. 11.

Paramedics took a person to hospital in serious condition after a fire broke out in an East Vancouver apartment building Sunday morning.

The three-storey building’s fire alarm went off just after 6 a.m., Vancouver Fire Rescue Services said in a news release. Arriving crews saw smoke coming from a third-floor unit, and upgraded the event to a 2nd alarm fire. Ten apparatus were sent to the scene in total.

Firefighters got in the building—at Nanaimo Street and 45th Avenue—quickly and stopped the fire from spreading.

“All the heat and fire was contained to that unit,” information officer Matthew Trudeau told CTV News.

“As soon as we open the door and start fire attack operations, there is some smoke that will get throughout the building and some water that will go to (units) below, but I think mostly they seem like they were habitable,” he continued.

Firefighters found one person inside the affected unit in “serious condition,” the department said.

Video from the scene shows first responders performing CPR on the patient before they were taken to hospital.

Representatives from BC Housing were also at the building to “work with residents for any units impacted by smoke or water damage,” VFRS added.

A spokesperson for BC Housing told CTV News that three units suffered significant fire and water damage, and their residents are temporarily staying in motels. The residents of all the other units have returned home, she said. 

“An urgent reminder about always having a working smoke alarms outside each sleeping area and on each level. Working smoke alarms saves lives,” VFRS wrote in the news release.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.