Six people have been displaced after a house above a restaurant in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood caught fire Wednesday night.
Assistant Fire Chief Arnie Groenewegen says crews were called to 8th Avenue and Main Street in Vancouver around 8:15 p.m., where a bedroom on the third floor of the building was burning.
With the house divided into several suites, Groenewegen says, responding firefighters had some trouble reaching the top floor, but put it out as quickly as possible.
No one was in the residences, but there were people in the restaurant below at the time, who all made it out safely.
Ignacio Arrieta only opened Osteria Otto in December, says he’s grateful everyone made it out unhurt, but after the water and smoke damage, says it’s likely the end for the old building.
“I think it’s gone,” said Arrieta.
Groenewegen says evidence shows the fire could have sparked from an electric blanket, but the investigation remains open.
More to come.