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The body of the 32-year-old man was found in the alley next to the Empress Hotel on Saturday morning.
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June 11, 2022 • 55 minutes ago • 3 minutes read • Join the conversation Fire truck file. Police and firefighters are investigating a fatal fire in downtown Vancouver East Side early Saturday. Photo by Jason Payne / PNG
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A male tenant is dead after an e-bike battery exploded, potentially causing him to fall out of a window in downtown East on Saturday morning, officials said.
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Trevor Connelly, deputy chief of Vancouver Fire and Rescue Operations, said the blaze caught fire around 7 a.m. on the second floor of the Empress Hotel, located in the 230th block of East Hastings Street.
“The hotel’s sprinkler system did fire, holding the fire in the room, but the blast damaged the building,” Connelly said.
Twenty-five crew members were sent to deal with the fire. One of them found the body of the 32-year-old man in the alley next to the hotel.
“It looks like the man was sitting near the window sill of the room and the resulting explosion made him fall,” Connelly said.
A man died after a fire at the Empress Hotel SRO in East Hastings in DTES early Saturday morning. The incident is under investigation. (Photo by Jason Payne / PNG) Photo by Jason Payne / PNG
Police confirmed that two others were injured in the blast.
Hotel owner Christopher Wall said that when he arrived at the scene after the incident, building officials told him the tenant may have jumped out the window.
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“However, judging by the broken glass in the alley below, he seems to have been forced out the window.
Empress tenants are not allowed to store electronic bicycles or batteries in their rooms, Wall said.
“It is very unfortunate that the male tenant was instructed not to keep his electric motor or battery in his room. He did not listen to our advice. “
Christopher Wall, owner of the Empress Hotel, poses for a photo at the Empress Bar in Vancouver, British Columbia, November 9, 2021 (Richard Lam / PNG) Photo: RICHARD LAM / PNG
While the 24-hour security guard worked closely with the city to conduct on-site inspections of the Empress’s rooms, the owner admitted: “It is difficult to know exactly what was imported.”
City engineers confirm that the damage to the hotel with a single room with 76 rooms is not structural, Wall said. “That means we can get tenants back on the third floor almost immediately.”
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Arrangements have been made for accommodation for 13 tenants on the second floor who were displaced by the fire. Wall plans to use dehumidifiers to remove water damage on the second floor.
“We have reservations booked for the first thing on Monday morning. Once the damage to the wall of the room is removed, the tenants on the second floor will be able to move back.
Hours after the blast, Vancouver resident Sherry Hill was worried about the condition of her brother and uncle, who are renting rooms at the hotel.
“My mother, who lives nearby, just went to check on them,” Hill told Postmedia News on Saturday afternoon. She later confirmed that her uncle was staying in a room next to the one shaken by the blast.
“My brother is safe with my mother now,” she said.
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Evidence from the preliminary investigation shows that the battery of the electronic bicycle, considered a probable cause of the fire, was charging at the time of the explosion.
“The fire had nothing to do with the infrastructure of the building, but with the battery itself,” the official said, confirming that Vancouver teams had seen fires ignited for similar reasons. “We are continuing to investigate.”
As electrical cycles become more popular in North America, concerns have been raised about the risk of fire from lithium batteries used to charge them. In April, North Vancouver teams were called to put out a house fire that ignited the malfunction.
In October, Consumer Reports found that 75 electronic bicycle fires broke out in New York last year alone, causing 72 injuries and three deaths.
The city’s fire service issued a warning on social media: “If you use a lithium battery, always use the manufacturer’s cable and power adapter made specifically for the device. If the battery overheats, discontinue use immediately.
sgrochowski@postmedia.com
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