An unlikely hero stopped an East Vancouver cheese shop from a potentially terrible situation.
This morning (July 23), Les Amis du Fromage co-owner Joe Chaput arrived at the cheese store's 843 E Hastings St location to a surprising sight: melted plastic and fire damage all over the front.
To figure out what was going on he went to the security tape from the night before.
The footage shows that around 1:40 a.m. on July 23 a man walked past the business and lit a plastic sign at the front of the shop on fire, Chaput tells V.I.A.
"It was just a dude walking down the street causing mayhem I guess," he speculates. "Who knows why people do things?"
However, there was a stroke of luck for the cheese shop, and it was caught on camera.
Just minutes after the fire started, the 20 Victoria bus was passing by.
In a video posted on social media by Les Amis du Fromage the flames can be seen on the front of the store. Stopped nearby is a TransLink bus.
Out of the bus comes the bus driver, carrying a fire extinguisher.
Within seconds the driver opens up the extinguisher and uses it very effectively. By the end of the video, no flames are visible, although there is plenty of smoke.
"The bus driver saved the day," Chaput tells V.I.A. "We're very grateful, no pun intended."
A second person, a security guard from a nearby site, can also be seen talking on a phone. Chaput says the guard was on the phone with the Vancouver Fire Rescue Service.
Chaput notes that while the fire department got there quickly, the bus driver showing up just moments after the fire started and before it got large may have saved the shop.
"We're all lucky, we all have a job and place to work today," he says, noting Les Amis du Fromage is open July 23. "I look back, there's not a ton of damage, but it's a crazy video."
While Chaput isn't sure who the driver was, he's very thankful for his actions.
"I just appreciate that sometimes people see stuff and they keep going on," he says. "This bus driver stopped when he didn't have to."
In a post on Twitter, Les Amis du Fromage applauded the driver's actions, and called the fire "an arson."
Big round of applause for this @TransLink driver who prevented an arson from becoming a terrible situation. And thanks to @VanFireRescue too! pic.twitter.com/B6Uzcgq0Pp
— les amis du FROMAGE (@LADFcheese) July 23, 2024
V.I.A. has reached out to the VPD, Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, and TransLink about the incident and will update the story with more information once it's available.
