Building facade collapse on Main Street leads to street closure Friday

The northbound lanes of Main Street were closed Friday evening between Terminal Avenue and Prior Street due to what police were calling a “potential building collapse.”

Vancouver Fire Rescue batallion chief Randy Boruck told CityNews that shortly after 4 p.m. Friday, police responded to 911 calls about a structural building collapse on Main Street. Police then shut down the street while city crews inspected the building.

“Seven fire apparatus were dispatched,” Boruck said. “There was a facade that had partially collapsed onto the sidewalk and spilled out onto the road. The building was obviously vacant for some time due to the dilapidated condition of it. So there were no occupants in there at the time.”

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Boruck said they secured a “safe collapse zone” around the building and there were no injuries.

The city’s chief inspector then wrote an order to have the building demolished, which Boruck said began right away.

Boruck told CityNews that Main Street northbound was expected to remain closed until about 11 p.m., and that southbound remained fully open during the entire event.

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