Dozens of firefighters rushed to a neighbourhood in East Vancouver Thursday morning after four homes went up in flames.
The call came in just before 6 a.m. and when firefighters arrived on scene at Prior and Gore streets, one home was already gutted.
The fire then spread to three other homes.
Vancouver Fire Captain Jonathan Gormick says the fire started at a home that was empty and behind a fence but it’s too early to say if squatters were living in the home.
There was a lot of debris in one of the other homes, however, which made it difficult for firefighters on scene to fight the blaze.
“Lots of material to burn, lots of weight on all the floors,” said Gormick.
“This has been an extremely challenging fire, especially as developed as the fire was when we arrived.”
“The homes are also very close together.”
There are no injuries reported but one neighbour said she woke up to yelling and screaming.
“I was up and I just heard people shouting and I thought it was just the usual Downtown Eastside people shouting but then I saw people running,” she told Global News.
Lots of smoke remained in the area for hours and the clean-up continues.