South Vancouver home destroyed by fire; neighbouring houses damaged

A fire in South Vancouver Monday completely destroyed one home and caused damage to two others, according to officials, who said no one was injured in the blaze.

Crews were called to the area of Oak Street and West 49th Avenue and found heavy smoke and flames shooting through the roof of one of the residences, Chris Gill, acting assistant chief with Vancouver Fire rescue Services told CTV News.

A large cloud of black smoke could be seen from kilometres away and West 49th Avenue was closed in both directions to allow crews space to work.

The cause of the fire has not been determined but the home where it started is, according to Gill, "totally gone." The blaze spread into a second-storey bedroom of a house next door, but crews were able to put it out before it destroyed the home. The house on the other side was badly damaged by smoke.

As of 4 p.m., Gill said firefighters were still working on extinguishing hotspots.

A vintage hot rod was also reportedly destroyed in the blaze and people in nearby homes and businesses had to hustle to prevent flooding from pooling water.