Police called after fireworks ignite in Vancouver condo

A video circulating online is raising eyebrows, and safety concerns, as it shows a number of fireworks exploding either inside a Yaletown condo or on its very small balcony.

The video, which seems to have been shot from a neighbouring building, shows a flash of light in the condo's window. A loud bang can be heard before the person who captured the video zooms in on the fireworks lighting up the suite. 

According to firefighters, it happened just after midnight on Jan. 1 in a condo tower across the street from George Wainborn Park.

Vancouver Fire Rescue Service said it sent crews to the building in response to emergency calls about the incident, but when firefighters arrived the people in the unit would not let them in so VFRS called police.

"Anyone setting off fireworks inside a residential building is risking their safety and the safety of their neighbours,” a spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Department said in a statement.

Police said there were no reports of injuries or property damage and that the fire department is now in charge of any further investigation.

Even if people in the condo avoid punishment from police and fire officials, they may still have to answer to the building’s strata council which could impose its own penalties.

Mike Williams is on the strata of a nearby building and watched the video while walking his dogs in the park.

"There's an emergency rule that allows us to enter a unit at any time if it's deemed an emergency,” he said. “Well, we would have had to call the cops."

Whether the bizarre incident was an accident or a willful act of destruction, based on the intensity of the fireworks in a small enclosed area, it’s fortunate nobody was injured.

There has not been a large-scale fireworks display to ring in the New Year since 2020, before COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. This year, an anticipated event was called off due to issues with costs and logistics. Impromptu, unpermitted displays have been banned in the city for several years, as has the sale of fireworks.