Fire kills child, sends four others to hospital
One child is dead and four other people are in hospital after a fire in an East Vancouver home on Thursday afternoon.
Capt. Jonathan Gormick, a spokesman for the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, confirmed one young person had died in the fire. The victim’s age was not available, though Gormick confirmed the victim was not an adult.
The fire was called in around 3:15 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, said Gormick. The house, at 3124 Nootka St., sits on a corner lot and was home to six individuals, he said.
“Five had been transported to hospital with various degrees of burns and smoke inhalation and unfortunately, there is one deceased person,” he confirmed.
The fire was knocked down by about 4 p.m., but crews remained at the scene into Thursday evening to investigate. Gormick said it would be some time before a cause for the fire could be confirmed.
“We’ve got about 45 staff on scene at this time and we’re accompanied by Vancouver police and B.C. Ambulance as well,” said Gormick.
“Road conditions were challenging but we had no problems accessing the residence.”
Melissa Brindley and her family were in the area for lunch earlier when they passed by the neighbourhood and spotted black smoke. Brindley said when she and her husband parked near the home, first responders had not yet arrived and there was already a small crowd forming on the sidewalks.
Brindley said she didn’t hear any screaming and assumed the occupants were able to escape, though she later learned at least one person had died in the fire.
“There was flames and smoke, very bad flames,” she said. “We just heard a lot of glass smashing and the smoke smelled like plastic. It was very, very rough.”