Police and firefighters are investigating after an explosion and fire at a single-room hotel near the intersection of Hastings and Main streets in Vancouver on Saturday morning.
Assistant in functions. Vancouver Fire Rescue Chief Walter Pereira told CTV News that one person had died in the incident at the Empress Hotel and two more were taken to hospital for treatment.
The teams arrived shortly after 7 a.m. in what Pereira described as a “pandemonium” outside the building.
The cause of the explosion and the fire is still being investigated, but Pereira said it appeared to be related to a lithium-ion battery, possibly the battery of an electric bicycle.
He said firefighters were able to contain the fire in the room where it originated.
The second floor of the building was evacuated, Pereira said, adding that Vancouver police were at the scene conducting an investigation to determine if the incident was criminal in nature.
An engineer has also been called in to assess the structural integrity of the hotel.
The fatal incident is the latest example of an increase in deadly fires across BC highlighted earlier this week by the provincial fire commissioner.
Brian Godlonton released his office’s annual report on Wednesday, which shows a 119% increase in fatal fires in the province in 2021 compared to 2019.
Last year there were 59 deaths from fires, more than 27 in 2019. With 33 deaths already recorded in 2022 before Saturday, this year is about to break records.
Perhaps the most notable deadly fire of 2022, to date, occurred in another Vancouver SRO.
The blaze ravaged the Winters Hotel in the city’s Gastown neighborhood on April 11, killing residents Mary-Ann Garlow and Dennis Guay and displacing the other 69 residents of the building.
Although BC Housing initially said there were all living in the building, Garlow and Guay’s bodies were found during the demolition of the building on April 23rd.
The tragic discovery raised questions about previous statements from the housing provider, who told CTV News in May that he was working to “better understand how the two residents were incorrectly counted during the evacuation of the building and whether there are no necessary adjustments to the policy and procedures for buildings under the management of BC Housing or publicly owned ”.
Featuring Bhinder Sajan and Lisa Steacy files from CTV News Vancouver