Vancouver firefighters are urging drivers to pay more attention after drivers transferred a fire hose during an active fire in South Vancouver on Friday, broke the hose and sent water jets.
Vancouver fire and rescue services responded to a fire at the house at the intersection of Ash Street and 61st Avenue around 9 a.m. Friday.
One person was displaced in the fire, but no casualties have been reported. The evictee lived in the basement of the house, according to officials. The upper wing of the house was under repair.
During the firefighting effort, emergency workers hooked up a fire hose – officially called a “supply line” – to a fire hydrant on the other side of busy Cambie Street.
In case of fire with 2 alarms in
THIS WATER SUPPLY IS OUR LIFE. Imagine you are inside a burning house and the water stops.
Never go through a fire hose, please. pic.twitter.com/18MQFoxroM
– @ IAFF18
Assistant Fire Chief Richard Warnock said several cars subsequently crossed the line. This caused the hose to burst and water to flow across the street.
“We had to go back to defense at the time to get everyone out – just in case we lost the whole line,” Warnock said. That kind of took us back a little bit.
Eventually, firefighters had to stop the damaged line, according to Warnock, and had to set up another delivery line.
More than 20 firefighters responded to the fire at the house on Ash Street and 61st Avenue. (Maryse Zeidler / CBC)
“I advise anyone approaching a fire hose … not to drive through it,” he said. “This could bring back the fire if we lose the whole line, as well as put our boys in the building in danger.
More than 20 firefighters responded to the blaze, and roads around the intersection were blocked early Friday morning.
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