A man had to be rescued from a downtown Vancouver SRO suite on Wednesday morning after a fire broke out.
Crews were called to the building at 1025 Granville Street near Nelson Street just before 8 a.m. and found heavy smoke and flames coming from a fifth-floor suite.
Matthew Trudeau, the public information officer for the Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, told Global News a sprinkler was activated but there is significant fire and water damage to at least one of the units.
“Obviously, a very challenging scene for the individual, trying to escape from that fifth suite,” he said.
“He was hanging out the window on arrival.”
Investigators confirmed the fire was caused by a butane torch connected to drug use.
Firefighters said this is a regular occurrence and they have to respond to several calls like this one daily.
“The number one cause of fire in the city and typically within SRO structures is careless use of smoker’s material, typically related to drug use,” Trudeau added.