Firefighters responded to a second-alarm fire in an abandoned home in East Vancouver Friday (Aug. 19) afternoon.
A fire broke out in the early afternoon in the 2200 block of East 1st Avenue in an abandoned house on the south side of the street, according to Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services (VFRS) Assistant Chief Ken Gemmill.
"The whole block is slated for demolition. They're all vacant homes that are boarded up," he told Vancouver Is Awesome, adding that there were signs someone experiencing homelessness was likely living in the building.
No one was at the scene when firefighters arrived but flames and heavy smoke were billowing from the structure. The east-bound lanes of East 1st Avenue were blocked to traffic as the crew battled the blaze.
"It was a bit stubborn to extinguish because it got in the walls...it was one of those old bungalows," he explained. "So we struggled a bit in the beginning but once we got a hold of it, we were able to extinguish it and relive fire crews."
The incident commander made it a "second alarm" fire due to the weather (dangerously hot and dry conditions), as well as the busy road, but he was also concerned that nearby structures would catch fire.
There were no injuries and the home is being boarded up. Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire.
Firefighters attend many calls to abandoned structures and they can be particularly dangerous because part of the home is already torn down, added Gemmill.
"The floors burn out quicker than normal sometimes. So we have got to be really aware when we enter an abandoned structure," he said.
