Vancouver firefighters tackle two overnight fires, warn drivers to steer clear of hoses

Vancouver firefighters were called to two fires overnight and into this morning. 

Both were residential, single-alarm fires, according to Matthew Trudeau, Public Information Officer at Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (VFRS). 

The first fire happened Wednesday (Dec. 21) evening at around 10 p.m. at in the basement of a residential building at 2100 E 4th Ave. 

A second fire set a suite ablaze in a three-storey walk-up apartment building located at 8700 Fremlin Street at around 4:15 a.m. Thursday (Dec. 22) morning. Trudeau tells Vancouver Is Awesome that one person was treated for smoke inhalation. 

"I believe that there is there was [Emergency Social Services] support offered to two people at both residences. I'm not sure how many people are displaced," he adds. 

While both fires were contained and hadn't spread, the cause of the fire is under investigation. 

Vancouver fire crews also had to deal with a challenging obstacle while tackling the fire at the Fremlin Street apartment building. 

“Unfortunately we had a person who drove over one of our hoses, our supply hose, and got stuck in one of the hoses which is really concerning for our fire crews and having a water supply to be able to fight the fire," Trudeau tells V.I.A.

Two vehicles have driven into fire scenes and on top of supply hoses over the last week, shares VFRS on Twitter. "This is incredibly dangerous for our firefighters and for the people we are rescuing inside of buildings. The large yellow hoses on the ground are never to be driven on," reads the post. 

Vancouver drivers used to get away with an $81 fine for driving over the yellow hoses, but now the fine has more than doubled. 

Trudeau also reminds residents to "make sure that they're extra cautious and diligent with any heating appliances or heaters, and that people are making sure that their smoke alarms are working."