Woman dies in downtown Vancouver apartment fire

A woman is dead after fire tore through a downtown Vancouver apartment building suite Thursday evening.

Vancouver firefighters were called to the building at 133 West Pender Street at 7:05 p.m. to find heavy smoke on the eighth floor, and one suite engulfed in flames.

Crews managed to extinguish the fire before it spread to neighbouring suites.

A woman believed to be in her 50s was removed from the suite and pronounced dead at the scene.

Vancouver Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief of Operations Trevor Connelly told Global News residents of the building limited the fire’s initial spread by using a fire hose in the building to douse the flames.

The cause of the woman’s death and the origin of the fire are under investigation.