Removal of collapsed crane at Vancouver fire site could take 2 weeks, officials say

Everyone displaced by the massive fire in Vancouver's Dunbar neighbourhood earlier this week will be able to return home Saturday, if their home is still standing, but it could still be two weeks before 41st Avenue reopens to traffic.

City officials provided an update Saturday morning on the aftermath of the fire that destroyed an under-construction apartment building and two nearby homes and sent a crane crashing down across the roadway.

Chief building official Saul Schwebs told a news conference "limited demolition" had taken place at the site to remedy any lingering concerns about public safety from his perspective.

"As of this evening, everybody should be able to return to their homes, but for those three – the two that were completely gutted by the fire and are probably total losses, and of course the one that the crane boom is resting on," Schwebs said.

The next step in cleaning up will be the removal of the crane, which Schwebs said he expected to take "about two weeks."

West 41st Avenue has been closed to traffic in the area near Collingwood Street since the fire broke out Tuesday evening. The blaze caused a construction crane to fall across the road and onto a home, trapping a man inside.

Fortunately, despite the catastrophic damage, no one was seriously injured as a result of the fire or the crane collapse.

The investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing, Schwebs said.

As the situation unfolded Tuesday, the city activated its emergency operations centre and began offering emergency support services to the 81 people who were forced to evacuate.

Many of those people were able to return home Wednesday, and the majority had returned home by Thursday.

"Those who remain unable to return home, we will continue and are continuing to provide emergency support services to them," said Miranda Myles, a manager with the Vancouver Emergency Management Agency, at Saturday's news conference.

Myles added that the city anticipates road closures in the area around the fire "for several weeks."

"We want to thank the public for their patience throughout this event and the continued road closures," she said.

"We're trying hard to get this situation returned to normal as quickly as possible and as safely as possible," said Schwebs.

A crane that collapsed during a fire at an apartment building under construction on Tuesday lies across the road, as firefighters direct water on the remains of the structure in Vancouver, on Wednesday, August 7, 2024. The fire destroyed the building under construction and damaged nine other nearby homes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck