North Vancouver apartment fire kills one, displaces 70 residents
Posted May 31, 2022 1:54 pm.
Last Updated June 1, 2022 3:29 pm.
One person is dead after a fire at a seniors living apartment building in North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley area.
Mounties say they responded to the blaze on Tuesday at Silverlynn Apartments on East 27 Street, where smoke and flames consumed the three-storey building.
Once the fire was under control, RCMP announced one person had died.
“We are very saddened to report that one person has died as a result of the fire,” said Sgt. Peter DeVries of the North Vancouver RCMP.
“There are approximately 70 residents who have been displaced,” he added.
The identity of the victim has not yet been released, as the family has not yet been notified.
“This is truly a tragedy,” said DeVries. “Thankfully, this community has excellent supports in place to take care of those affected by this fire. But our hearts go out today especially to the family and friends of the person who lost their life.”
Susie Chant, the North Vancouver-Seymour NDP MLA says she brought forward concerns of issues on the building to BC Housing last fall.
At this point, she says she does not know enough about the cause of the fire as it’s still being investigated by the BC Coroners Service and Mounties which will determine “what happened and what needs to be done to prevent anything of the same pipe happening in the future.”
She says her concerns last fall were focused on leakage in the building, “So that may or may not be associated with a fire hazard.”
DeVries adds the investigation will prove if criminality lead up to the fire.
“These are the seniors in our community, our elders. Even aside from any physical injury, this is a traumatic event for them and certainly our thoughts are with them as they struggle with this very disruptive and upsetting event. That’s why we have our crisis intervention team has been activated. They’re providing some of those supports as well as the North Shore emergency management.”
