Pigeon Park fire spares downtown Vancouver totem pole

A small fire in Vancouver's Pigeon Park on the Downtown Eastside this morning spared a nearby totem pole.

City workers said they had just finished cleaning up the park and had gone on a break when someone apparently dumped belongings in the park and set them on fire.

Firefighters arrived to put the fire out, blocking traffic for a short time around 5 a.m. PT. While the fire burned near a totem pole in the small park, it did not damage it.

Pigeon Park is located at the intersection of East Hastings and Carral Street and is officially known as Pioneer Place.