Vancouver Fire Rescue Services says it has extinguished a blaze that destroyed an under-construction apartment building, damaged nine nearby homes and appears to have caused a crane to collapse.
The fire in the city’s Dunbar neighbourhood broke out late Tuesday in a six-storey building and spread to several nearby houses.
Assistant Fire Chief Keith Stewart says the cause of the fire and the circumstances that led to the crane collapsing remain under investigation.
He says a couple of firefighters suffered minor injuries.
Of the nine homes where firefighters battled the blaze, two were left uninhabitable while the rest suffered minor damage, Stewart said.
While the fire was raging, city officials warned that people who have underlying breathing conditions should leave the affected area and find a safe indoor space.
Dramatic video posted on social media while the fire was burning showed a crane toppling, as a huge column of thick black smoke billowed upwards from the top of a building.
A massive fire erupted amid explosions and a crane collapsed at a construction site near 41st and Collingwood on Vancouver’s west side before 7 p.m. PT. No injuries have been reported, according to a B.C. Provincial Health Services.