East Vancouver house fire displaces 7: Vancouver Fire

Seven people have been left without a home after a “suspicious” fire ripped through their home in East Vancouver’s Collingwood neighbourhood Tuesday.

Asst. Chief Kevin Gemmell with the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services says crews were called around 6:30 p.m. to a home near Collingwood Place and Dunbar Street.

Gemmell says initial investigations show the fire appears to be suspicious, and has caused significant damage to the house.

“There was lots of the fire actually got into the attic. It was an old bungalow-style home with a large attic and it took crews off few hours to really extinguish it,” he said.

He says several people were living in the house, including multiple University of British Columbia students and a family — but adds no one was hurt in the blaze.

“The house [is] unlivable due to the smoke and fire damage,” he said. “Mostly just drywall installation had to be peeled down to get to the seat of the fire so yeah, obviously then what loss of water damage.”

He adds the Vancouver Police Department has been called in to investigate.