More than two weeks after flames ripped through a Vancouver construction site, toppling a crane onto 41st Avenue, work is finally underway to clear the debris.
The Aug. 6 fire destroyed a six-storey Dunbar building, spread to several neighbouring homes, displaced dozens of people and has left the major thoroughfare closed to traffic ever since.
City of Vancouver chief building official Saul Schwebs said the delay was a result of detailed planning needed to safely remove the crane and preserve it for investigators, as well as the time needed to procure special equipment needed for the job.
Crews were hard at work Wednesday morning cutting the crane into segments using a specialized hydraulic shearer.
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“It looks like something that was salvaged off a mechanical crab defeated by Godzilla, and it’s really making pretty quick work of the operation,” Schwebs said.
“I am confident this is probably only going to take two days. We might have to go into Friday for some of the cleanup, but the crane should be off-site tomorrow.”
Once the crane is removed, Schwebs said city crews will need to repair a four-cubic-metre hole in 41st Avenue, while BC Hydro, the Coast Mountain Bus Company and internet service providers will need to repair their own infrastructure in the area.
That work could take up to another week.
“We really want to have everything wrapped by Labour Day so we can restore bus service for students returning to UBC,” he said.
The crane segments are being inspected before transport off-site, where they will undergo further review as a part of an investigation into both the fire and the collapse.
“There’s a lot of witness statements and other evidence that we’re using,” Vancouver Fire Rescue Services Dept. Chief Trevor Connelly said.
“The fire has been determined accidental, but the exact cause at this point is undetermined.”
Cleanup of the wider debris field could take months, but the city says Sightline Properties is determined to restart and rebuild the six-storey development that was razed in the fire.
The city added that of the 81 people initially evacuated from their homes, just 15 remain displaced.
— with files from Andrea Macpherson
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