The cause of the fire, which severely damaged a Vancouver heritage building in Gastown and displaced dozens of residents, was announced by officials as police worked to clear the area with drones.
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services said their preliminary investigation into the fire at the Winters Hotel on Abbott Street revealed that the fire was accidental and started from unsupervised candles. Supervisors first discovered the fire and tried to put it out themselves. When they could not, they began to warn the inhabitants.
The damage to the building was so severe that city officials decided it needed to be demolished. This work was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, but was postponed until security plans were finalized.
On Thursday, demolition was again delayed by people entering the building at night. City officials confirmed that Vancouver police used drones to ensure the building was clean before demolition continued.
“This is how they check the building, because it is not safe to enter, even to look for people in the building,” Sol Shuebs from Vancouver told reporters on Thursday. “They are convinced that this is a safe way to conduct a search.
Work was scheduled to begin at 7 a.m., but instead began at 12:30 p.m., after staff made sure she was free.
Last Monday’s devastating fire destroyed much of the heritage building and sent five people to hospital, displacing dozens.
Days before this fire, crews were called for a small fire in another unit. Sprinkler systems in the building extinguished the fire, VFRS said, adding that crews turned off the sprinklers after the incident. As a standard process, they then issued a notice of violation to service the fire safety systems, which required a fire watch until the safety system was operational again.
Speaking to CTV News in front of the building on Wednesday, some tenants of the single-room residence said they were worried after being taken from their homes and personal belongings.
With a series of setbacks, the city of Vancouver hopes the demolition will be completed by Friday afternoon, but said roads may not reopen until Friday night, as originally expected.
With files from Tahmina Aziz from CTV News in Vancouver
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