Vancouver firefighters scramble to extinguish intense fire on Broadway between Manitoba and Columbia
Dozens of onlookers capture images, videos of dramatic blaze in area known for shops, restaurants
Images and videos online show Vancouver firefighters battling an intense blaze on Sunday night along Broadway between Columbia and Manitoba Streets.
Crews battling a fire in the 100 blk W Broadway, traffic closed in the area <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2ndAlarm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#2ndAlarm</a> <a href="https://t.co/5w8XqBadBH">pic.twitter.com/5w8XqBadBH</a>
—@IAFF18Officials on the scene said there were no injuries related to the fire but have not yet said what caused it. It is under investigation.
Firefighters say the fire was in a three-storey, multi-residential and commercial space and that the structure is destroyed. There were three occupants living on the top floor of the building.
.<a href="https://twitter.com/VanFireRescue?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VanFireRescue</a> fighting dramatic blaze on Broadway between Columbia and Manitoba. Video courtesy of Ariane Fleischmann <a href="https://t.co/FZWrRmVtJf">pic.twitter.com/FZWrRmVtJf</a>
—@ChadPawson"The fire was through the roof upon arrival," said Brian Godlonton, a deputy chief with Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.
He also said two vehicles caught on fire that were behind the structure.
"It was a pretty tough fire," he said.
On the bottom level of the building was the African Arts and Drums store, which is to the west of Martini's Restaurant at 151 West Broadway.
Godlonton said the two neighbouring buildings were not damaged.
"So it was a really good save," he said about the quick response from firefighters.
'Good citizen'
One person who stopped to call 911 about the blaze was the Vancouver Whitecaps teenaged star Alphonso Davies, who hours earlier had played a game at B.C. Place.
"The first thing I did as a good citizen, I called 911 and in minutes they were here quick," he said. "And I'm glad that they got the situation under control."
Watch more about what Davies had to say about coming across the blaze:
Power was knocked out on the entire block, while firefighters closed off Broadway around the property that was burning.
Godlonton said at one point up to 10,000 customers lost power in the area.
One woman in the area, Karen Quinn Fung, tweeted that she saw a transformer blow before the fire started.
Fire in progress on Broadway between Columbia and Manitoba. I saw the transformer go up that sparked it, about 7 min ago. <a href="https://t.co/dIyvbUzux1">pic.twitter.com/dIyvbUzux1</a>
—@counti8By 11 p.m. PT it appeared that firefighters had managed to extinguish the fire. Godlonton said crews would remain through the night at the scene.
with files from Jon Hernandez.