'Suspicious' blaze damages vacant south Granville Street home

Firefighters battled a large blaze in a "boarded up and abandoned" house in Vancouver's west side that broke out just before 6 a.m. PT on Saturday.

The fire spread quickly through the building near Granville Street and West 58th Avenue, eventually tearing through the roof.

Battalion Chief Dale Parno said the blaze was stubborn to fight due to the age and type of building materials in the home.

Crews called for extra firefighters around 6:30 a.m. PT after the blaze had made its way deep into the walls of the home.

"We did a quick primary search, we found nobody at this time, and no evidence of anybody living inside either," Parno said.

He said even though the home is one of a number on the block that is slated to be demolished, it was "secured fairly well."

"This house is boarded up and abandoned, as most of the houses in this block are, so the cause of the fire is suspicious at this point."

He said there was a fire at another house on the block just last week.

Nearby residents were woken up to the strong smell of smoke from the burning building.

They say the house was recently sold to a developer.