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The body of the 32-year-old man was found in the alley next to the Hotel Empress on Saturday morning.
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June 11, 2022 • 47 minutes ago • 3 minutes reading • Join the conversation Archive photo of a fire truck. Police and firefighters are investigating a deadly fire in downtown Eastside, Vancouver early Saturday morning. Photo by Jason Payne / PNG
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According to officials, a male tenant has died after a battery of an electric bicycle exploded, which could cause him to fall from his window in the center of the east on Saturday morning.
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Trevor Connelly, deputy chief of operations for Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, said the resulting fire broke out around 7 a.m. on the second floor of the Empress Hotel, located at 230 East Hastings Street. .
“The hotel’s sprinkler system went out, which contained fire in the room, but the explosion caused damage to the building,” Connelly said.
Twenty-five crew members were sent to deal with the fire. One of them found the body of the 32-year-old man in the alley next to the hotel.
“It looks like the man was sitting near the edge of the room window and the resulting explosion caused him to fall,” Connelly said.
One person died after a fire at the Empress Hotel SRO in East Hastings at the DTES on Saturday morning. The incident is being investigated. (Photo by Jason Payne / PNG) Photo by Jason Payne / PNG
Police confirmed two others were injured in the blast.
The owner of the hotel, Christopher Wall, said that when he arrived at the site after the incident, the building staff told him that the tenant could have jumped out the window.
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“However, judging by the broken glass in the alley below, it looks like they forced him out the window.”
Empress tenants can’t store e-bikes or batteries in their rooms, Wall said.
“It’s very unfortunate, the male tenant had been instructed not to have his electric bike or battery in his room. He ignored our advice.”
Christopher Wall, owner of the Empress Hotel, poses for a photo at the Empress Bar in Vancouver, BC, November 9, 2021. (Richard Lam / PNG) Photo by RICHARD LAM / PNG
Although 24-hour security works closely with the city to conduct timely inspections of the Empress’s rooms, the owner admitted, “It’s hard to know exactly what’s going on.”
City engineers confirm the damage to the 76-room single-room hotel was not structural, Wall said. “That means we can get tenants back to the third floor almost immediately.”
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Arrangements have been made for accommodation in a night shelter for 13 second-floor tenants who were displaced by the fire. Wall plans to use dehumidifiers to fix water damage on the second floor.
“We have reservations reserved for early Monday morning. Once the damage to the room wall has been fixed, tenants on the second floor will be able to re-enter.”
Hours after the blast, Vancouver resident Sherry Hill was worried about the condition of her brother and uncle, who are renting rooms at the hotel.
“My mother, who lives nearby, just went to check them out,” Hill told Postmedia News on Saturday afternoon. He later confirmed that his uncle was staying in a room next to the one that shook the explosion.
“My brother is safe at my mother’s house now,” he said.
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Preliminary research evidence shows that the battery of the electric bicycle, considered the probable cause of the fire, was charged at the time of its explosion.
“The fire had nothing to do with the building’s infrastructure, but with the battery itself,” said the official, who confirmed that Vancouver teams have seen fires ignite for similar reasons. “We continue to investigate.”
As power cycles have become increasingly popular in North America, concerns have arisen about the risk of fire associated with the lithium batteries used to charge them. In April, North Vancouver crews were called in to put out a house fire caused by the malfunction.
In October, Consumer Reports found that 75 electric bicycle fires in New York alone last year caused 72 injuries and three deaths.
The city’s fire department issued a warning on social media: “If you’re using a lithium battery, always use the manufacturer’s power cord and power adapter made specifically for your device. If a battery overheats, leave to use immediately “.
sgrochowski@postmedia.com
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