Faulty electrical equipment and a lack of working smoke alarms are being blamed for a fatal fire in an alleged illegal secondary suite over the weekend.
Fire crews were called to a home in the 2600-block of East 46th Avenue at around 4 a.m. Sunday. Public information officer Capt. Jonathan Gormick with Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services said firefighters arrived to find three people already out of the house.
“Three occupants were already outside and indicated there was a fourth missing person possibly trapped in the basement,” he said, adding that firefighters located a man in his 70s in the basement suite. Attempts to resuscitate the man were unsuccessful.
Gormick said is appears that the man was living in the “lower part of the house in what appears to be an illegal suite.” The other three people had been in the upper part of the home at the time of the fire.
“Fire investigators have determined the cause to be accidental in nature and to have started in the lower living area, possibly because of faulty electrical equipment,” he said.
Gormick said investigators believe the fire stared either due to a faulty power bar or an overloaded extension cord. He said there was a space heater plugged into both the extension cord and the power bar but it did not directly cause the fire.
It’s not known at this time if the three survivors were all residents of the home or if there was any relation to the victim.
In light of the fire, Gormick said the department is warning residents to ensure electrical equipment is in proper working order — use only newer model electrical appliances and make sure power bards and extension cords are the appropriate size for what they’re being used for.
“We cannot overstate the importance of working smoke alarms. There’s a broad misconception that people will be woken up in the case of a fire, they’ll smell the smoke, they’ll hear the fire, and that’s been proven time and time again not to be the case,” Gormick said, adding that fire victims are often overcome by smoke before they wake up.
“In spite of the lack of a working smoke alarm on the upper floors, the occupants are very, very lucky to have escaped alive and this could have been made much more tragic very quickly had they not escaped.”
Any Vancouver resident can call 311 or visit the city’s website to book a free home fire safety check.
@JessicaEKerr
jkerr@vancourier.com
