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Crews fighting fire at North Vancouver seniors apartments

A portion of the building that's been under renovation has 'totally collapsed,' fire chief says
Nick Laba
Nick Laba

UPDATE: 11:45 a.m.

Firefighters are continuing to battle a blaze that's torn through, and partially collapsed, a seniors apartment building in North Vancouver.

Reports of a fire at Silverlynn Apartments first came in just after 9 a.m. Saturday morning, and firefighters arrived on scene less than 10 minutes later, said Mike Danks, fire chief with District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.

"We've got a working structure fire, we're doing our best to reduce the extent of the damage," he said. "We've lost half of this structure that's been under renovation, that's unoccupied."

"There is a section of the building that's occupied that we've been doing rescues off balconies," Danks said.

Around 10 residents have been evacuated off balconies in the occupied portion, he said, and there are around four to six units still to search.

"There are no injuries to staff. Three occupants have been treated for smoke inhalation by BC Ambulance," Danks said.

So far, a fast response from district firefighters, as well as crews from North Vancouer City and West Vancouver, has reduced the extent of the damage.

But a significant portion of the renovated part of the building has "totally collapsed," he said.

"Due to the stage it was at, it was all framing, that leads to rapid fire spread," Danks said.

North Shore Emergency Management has set up a reception centre for displaced residents at a nearby church, said Ryan Schaap, spokesperson for District of North Vancouver.

When asked if there have been any injuries, Schaap said that the response is active and "we do not have any more information at this time." 

But more updates will be coming, he said.

'The flames were crazy'

Sara Lawson, who lives about a block away from Silverlynn, said she first noticed the fire driving home from her daughter’s softball game around 9:30 a.m.

“I saw a ton of ambulances and firetrucks I had a mild panic attack thinking it was my house,” she said.

But as she approached her street, that’s when Lawson saw the “massive fire” at the nearby apartment building.

“The flames were crazy,” she said. “The flames were coming out from the top [of the building]. We could see part of the apartment collapsed.”

Black smoke pouring from the address was so thick that they had to evacuate another softball game nearby, Lawson said.

There were many fire trucks on scene, as well as police and ambulance. But as far as she saw, Lawson said there weren’t any ambulances rushing away from the building, or people on stretchers.

She said that renovations have been ongoing at Silverlynn “for months and months.”

Lawson added that she’s aware that some of the residents haven’t yet moved back into the building, but that some have been living there.

No fatalities have been reported so far.

North Shore News has reached out for more information on the fire.

ORIGINAL: 10:30 a.m.

A blaze has been tearing through a seniors apartment building in North Vancouver.

At around 10 a.m. on Saturday, huge amounts of smoke could be seen billowing up from Silverlynn Apartments in Lynn Valley.

District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services crews were on scene shortly after and were putting hoses on the fire.

More to come ...

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Large amounts of smoke pour from the apartment fire. | Pat Bell