Several fires and a crane collapse on Tuesday night left Vancouver’s fire teams with only two trucks free in the entire city, according to the fire chief, forcing Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services to stop responding to medical emergencies as a result.
Chief Karen Fry said Wednesday morning they were also pressed to call in support from neighbouring cities Richmond and Burnaby to assist.
“That’s very concerning,” she said. “We’re just really grateful that we have neighbours close to us. A lot of communities in our province do not have neighbours close to them that they can call.”
She said they have about 150 firefighters on hand at any time in the city, but with more than 60 at one of the fires alone, she said they had to pause the medical calls and lean on E-Comm to help defer resources as quickly as possible.
“We had fire chiefs doing everything they could to put out the fires, to stop them from spreading, even at that 41st fire. So it was an all-hands-on-deck, and I’m super proud of the work they did,” she said.
“I am told that we had embers flying even through Pacific Spirit Park that our colleagues were responding and putting out,” Fry said.
She said the whole thing was “overwhelming.”
Daily Hive
The first fire broke out in East Vancouver, in a derelict apartment building, around 4 pm at 414 East 10th Avenue. This is the third time crews have been called to the building in recent months, with the past blazes blamed on squatters. The second-alarm fire saw more than 40 firefighters on the scene.
Dramatic footage of our members fighting the fire that broke out at an apartment complex in East #Vancouver yesterday (a fire at the same complex just over a year ago displaced dozens of residents).
Thank you to Brandon David for the footage. pic.twitter.com/55WbOtE9aU
— Van Fire Fighters (@IAFF18) August 7, 2024
According to Fry, neighbours’ concerns in that area were being addressed before the blaze, as the City was in the process of tearing it down. Now that it’s so heavily damaged, Fry says the process will be fast-tracked, and it will be completely demolished in the coming days.
Alex Boettcher/Submitted
Two hours after that blaze, a second fire broke out inside an empty six-storey wood-frame residential construction site and quickly spread to spark about nine other fires nearby. The fire at 3477 W 41st Avenue also led to the collapse of a construction crane onto a home and the power lines, trapping one person inside who had to be rescued through a window.
Terrifying video of a construction crane crashing to the ground during a fire in Vancouver.
📹: @DailyHiveVan reader Volante Matheson pic.twitter.com/CspZDeI0dz
— Megan Devlin (@MegDevlinn) August 7, 2024
Fry says some drivers in the area did not heed emergency crews rushing to the scene just after rush hour along busy 41st Avenue in the Dunbar-Southlands neighbourhood.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said their thoughts on the residents who have been displaced and the families who have lost their homes as a result of the fires.
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“I can’t stress how proud I personally am and how thankful I am on behalf of an incredibly grateful city for firefighters our police officers, and all our first responders roles…When you look at what our firefighters did, they ran into harm’s way. They were incredibly exhausted coming from one fire to the one on Dunbar. It was an incredibly dangerous and trying situation, and they literally saved lives,” he said.
“It’s incredible no one was injured or killed.” The excitment of reopening of Vancouver’s Kits pool is sombre this morning as the mayor thanks first responders for the lifesaving efforts in last night’s fires. pic.twitter.com/nDNfHqPIsr
— Claire Fenton (@Ceeceefenton) August 7, 2024
Fry echoed those thanks, including to the Vancouver Police Department.
“Our crews did an amazing job. We are very fortunate. We did not lose that whole block or even more. I spent time walking around that site late last night, and it is remarkable the efforts that our firefighters made, when we talk about heroes, these are our heroes, right? They saved lives. They saved properties. That is what we are hired to do, and we are very grateful for them and the work that they did,” she said.
WorkSafe BC is on site to determine the cause of the crane collapse and the cleanup of the structure will take some time, officials say, impacting traffic in the area.