A crane that collapsed during a fire at an apartment building under construction on Tuesday lies across the road, in Vancouver, on August 7. The fire destroyed the building under construction and damaged nine other nearby homes.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
A fire in Vancouver’s Dunbar neighbourhood that destroyed an under-construction apartment building and damaged nine other homes involved the collapse of a crane and left hundreds of people without electricity overnight.
The fire broke out at about 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the construction site at West 41st Avenue and Collingwood Street on the city’s west side. Nearby residents reported hearing several explosions, which they assumed to be propane tanks, and seeing the six-storey structure completely engulfed in flames, sending large plumes of acrid smoke into the sky.
Embers and debris ignited nine additional fires, forcing some residents to flee, according to Vancouver Fire Rescue Services. The crane took down several power lines when it fell onto a home; the sole occupant was rescued unharmed. More than 700 properties were left without electricity on Tuesday night. By the following afternoon, as BC Hydro crews worked to restore power, fewer than 100 properties were still in the dark. Two homes also had their gas shut off, according to FortisBC.
Several residents in the area were still waiting on Wednesday to return to their homes.
The collapse of a crane during a fierce blaze at a construction site in Vancouver on August 7 was captured on cellphone video.
The Globe and Mail
VFRS deputy chief Robert Weeks said a couple of firefighters sustained minor injuries battling the blaze, but that he was not aware of anyone else being hurt.
Lea Tkatch, who lives in a townhome nearby, said she was washing dishes Tuesday evening when she heard several explosions within the span of a couple of minutes – ground-shaking booms that she guessed to be propane tanks or transformers exploding.
The first explosion jolted her. “I grabbed my phone and before I could even do anything, the second explosion went, so then I went out in front of my house and you could see the flames start. … It didn’t take long after that second one for the flames to be seven storeys high.”
Ms. Tkatch grabbed a neighbour’s garden hose and began soaking her patio furniture as embers and smouldering debris fell around her.
Cathy Daniel, who lives in the same complex as Ms. Tkatch, was barbecuing when the fire broke out.
“I’ll never forget the frightening roar,” she said. “I was blocks away and I could feel the heat.”
The Dunbar fire was the second large fire in Vancouver on Tuesday. About two hours earlier, a blaze broke out at a vacant apartment building on East 10th Avenue near Prince Edward Street in the city’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood – the same building that was gutted by fire in July, 2023, displacing more than 70 residents.
That building has sat empty since, but Mr. Weeks said firefighters have been called to the building several times for reports of fires started by people squatting inside the building. Given the condition of the structure after this latest fire, Vancouver’s chief building official on Wednesday ordered that it be demolished.
VFRS said Wednesday that investigations will take place to determine the circumstances surrounding both incidents. Several streets around both fires remained closed to traffic Wednesday afternoon as emergency management personnel worked on scene.
With resources stretched thin by the two fires, firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department and Richmond Fire-Rescue were dispatched to assist in Dunbar.
The Dunbar apartment building comprised 109 units, with occupancy scheduled to start next spring. According to developer Sightline Properties, the development was to contain a mix of one- to three-bedroom units.