Vancouver firefighter sent to hospital after roof collapses during fire

VANCOUVER – A firefighter was injured after an aggressive fire in Vancouver’s downtown early Saturday caused a ceiling to collapse onto him.

Assistant fire chief Pierre Morin says the firefighter was taken to hospital with minor injuries, but has since been released.

He says the department was initially called around 2 a.m. Saturday for a vehicle fire thatlater spread to a building at 1020 Granville Street and a hostel next door.

Morin says there were no civilian injuries, but since the building collapsed, it “is a complete writeoff.”

He says the fire continued to burn under the rubble Saturday afternoon as crews waited for Natural gas supplier FortisBC to shut off the gas line so firefighters could tear down the building and extinguish the blaze.

Morin says the hostel and a nearby single-room occupancy building were also evacuated due to the blaze.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2023.