Child among 3 family members killed in Vancouver house fire

A child was amongthree people killed Sunday morning in a house fire in East Vancouver that also injured two people from the same family,according to Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.

The fire started at 7:30 a.m., with investigators saying it likely started in the basement suite of the detached home near the intersection of East 41st Avenue and Earles Street.

The three people killed were from three generations of the same family a grandfather, mother, and a child under 10 years old. The two people injured were the father and grandmother of the child, with the father suffering serious burns.

"We send our sincere condolences and heartfelt thoughts of empathy to the family," said Vancouver Fire Chief Karen Fry at a news conference on Sunday afternoon.

Neighbour William Lam said he was taking out the garbage and saw yellow caution tape up in the alley, but didn't know what had happened.

"The grandmother and grandfather I know, and his boy, sometimes we would say hi.So horrible," said Lam while holding back tears.

Smoke poured from theburned homeamid adownpourmid-morning. An entire side of the house was covered in ash and soot, and windows were shattered.

The fire department saidroughly 40 firefighters and other emergency responders tackled the blaze at East 41stAvenue and EarlesStreet.

"The fire was incredibly extensive and devastating," said Fry. "At this time, we don't know the extent of the smoke alarms and whether they were working or not."

Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services is continuing to investigate the fatal blaze, but the cause of the fire is unknown at this time. Investigators do not currently believe there is anything suspicious about how the fire started.

Fry said the injured father and grandmother were found outside the burning house when firefighters arrived. The three others were found when firefighters entered thehome. Attempts to resuscitate them were unsuccessful and they were pronounced dead at the scene.

"These types of incidents are devastating not only for the family of the deceased and those suffering, but for our firefighters and for other first responders," she said.

"We are doing whatever we can to bring in critical incident stress teams. We have them available and on site and have also been in contact with WorkSafe[BC]."

Police officers and members of the B.C. Coroners Service attended the scene, with police taping off a long stretch of busy East 41st Avenue to block traffic.