Vancouver eatery destroyed in blaze

VANCOUVER — An early morning fire destroyed a popular Mexican restaurant in Vancouver on Thursday.

Vancouver Fire and Rescue got the call about 5 a.m. and flames were “through the roof” of the building that housed the Topanga Café on West 4th Avenue by the time the first firefighters arrived, said Assistant Chief Dan Stroup.

The blaze, which spread to the neighbouring appliance store, became a three-alarm effort requiring 65 firefighters and several engines and ladder trucks.

News of the fire spread quickly to employees of the handful of businesses caught in the fire.

Sophie Bakos, an employee of the Topanga, said she woke up to messages on her phone and was devastated to see the building.

“I’m miserable about it, I don’t know what else to say,” a tearful Bakos said walking away from the scene.

She had worked at the restaurant for a few years and described the owner and her co-workers as “wonderful.”

“It was just like going to hang out with your friends.”

Marina Sorrentini, showroom manager at the appliance store in the neighbouring building, said she got a call from her boss in Ontario who got word from a friend who heard about the fire at Topanga and asked her to check on the store.

On her way, about 7:20 a.m. Sorrentini said she could see the smoke from Broadway and Macdonald, so she knew that it was serious.

“I was shocked,” she said. “That’s when I could really see the smoke up in the sky.”

A fire chief told Sorrentini that crews were trying to contain the fire when it first touched the roof of their building, “but it just spread.”

A condo building next to the appliance store was also evacuated. Stroup said he wasn’t aware of any injuries.

The mixed-use building, with addresses of 2904 to 2908 West 4th Avenue, dates to 1912, according to the Vancouver Heritage Foundation.