First responders say eight people have been sent to hospital and another 38 have been displaced after a fire that began early Wednesday in a low-rise residential building in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood.
Firefighters have not yet provided an update on the extent of the damage at the three-storey Seven Maples building on West 7th Avenue at Maple Street, and no details have been given about the condition of those injured.
Video shared with CBC News shows firefighters arriving at the site as flames burned a balcony and up the side of the building. The video also shows firefighters spraying water on the flames.
Charred and blackened balconies could be seen on several units of the building later Wednesday morning, when the fire appeared to have been extinguished.
Vancouver Fire Rescue Services Deputy Chief Trevor Connelly is expected to speak with media at the scene around 9:30 a.m. PT.
‘Screaming’
Eoin Logn, who lives across the street from the Seven Maples building, which is run by B.C. Housing, told CBC News he was awoken by the fire and residents from the building calling out for help from their balconies.
“We could hear people on the third floor screaming to get out and we could see firefighters taking them out by ladders on the other side at 3:30 a.m.,” he said.
It’s the third serious fire in Vancouver within a week.
On Aug. 6, a fire started at a construction site in the city’s West Side, during which a crane collapsed into a house. On the same day, a fire broke out at an abandoned apartment block in East Vancouver.