Drug lab cause of West Vancouver fire, police say

Police have confirmed that a medium-sized drug lab was the cause of a fire that forced the evacuation of a dozen nearby homes on Monday.

West Vancouver police obtained a search warrant on Tuesday afternoon for the site, a home in the 5500 block of Greenleaf Road in the Eagle Harbour neighbourhood.

The search was carried out on Tuesday evening and is likely to continue Wednesday.

Traffic in the area will be restricted, but investigators say it is safe for residents and no further evacuation is anticipated.

Kenny Schultze lives next to the house where the drug lab was found.

"He had a tenant living downstairs, but that's all we really knew," he said. "Couldn't really see that coming cause Eagle Harbour is known for being quiet, no action really happens."

But West Vancouver police Const. Jeff Palmer says drug labs often pop up in quiet residential areas.

"People will look for quiet places where they can conduct illegal activity," Palmer told CBC News. "And this is clearly a quiet neighbourhood."

No arrests have been made at this time.