The City of Vancouver says the ruins of a low-income hotel destroyed by fire earlier this month have been fully demolished.
It says work can now begin to clean up the area around the Winters Hotel, where two bodies were found more than a week after the April 11 fire.
In the days after the fire, the property manager said it was believed that all of the residents had escaped the blaze, which also left five people injured.
The department has also said it was too dangerous for crews to reach the area where the fire started when they first began fighting the flames, so it couldn’t be determined if the building was empty.
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services has said the fire was sparked accidentally by unattended candles. The sprinkler system and fire alarms in the building were also not operating at the time of the pblaze, having been turned off after being activated by another fire just days prior. A final investigation into the cause is underway,
“This process will be thorough and include analyzing evidence and speaking to witnesses. The results of the investigation will be released once completed,” says a statement from the city
The city says the demolished materials will remain at the site in the Gastown neighborhood for the next two weeks, but it would work to open as much of the sidewalk and street as possible to support surrounding residents and businesses.