Fraser Street apartment fire displaces six residents
Most suites not significantly damaged, but residents can't return after bed bugs found in some rooms
Six residents of an apartment on Fraser Street in Vancouver have been displaced after a fire broke out in the rear of the building Tuesday night.
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Resident James Horne says he was in his suite when he started to smell smoke around 9:30 p.m.
"At first I ignored it and went back to my room," said Horne, who has lived in the building for five years.
"I could barely smell it, until somebody told me to get out … then I opened the door and it was black, pure black," he said.
Fire started outside
Battalion Chief Steve Duncan said the fire was quickly upgraded to a second-alarm after the first crews on scene had difficulties tracing the path of the fire, which started outside the rear of the building.
Crews on scene of working apartment fire at Fraser & E 45th, Engine 17 calling for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2ndAlarm?src=hash">#2ndAlarm</a>
—@IAFF18"It was in the walls so it was very tough to find out where it was and where it's going," Duncan said.
"It's very labor intensive … it went up through the walls and up to the third floor."
Residents displaced
Duncan said six residents in the building all escaped safely, but at least two of them will require social assistance to find housing.
Although the fire didn't cause any significant damage to most of the suites, residents were told by Emergency Social Services that they would not be able to return to the building, as crews reportedly found bed bugs in some of the rooms.
The exact cause of the fire is currently under investigation, but Duncan says it appears to have started as an electrical fire.