Fire at Oakridge construction site billowed smoke into the air (VIDEO)
Editor’s note: this is a breaking story.
In the afternoon on Saturday, June 3, witnesses reported seeing smoke billowing from a construction site at Oakridge in Vancouver.
Vancouver Fire Rescue Services Assistant Chief Ken Gemmill told Daily Hive that the second alarm fire has since been extinguished.
The fire at the Oakridge Park construction site was “extinguished quickly.” Mainly, it was construction debris that was on fire, like plywood and roofing materials. “It looked more significant than the actual fire was,” said Gemmill.
#oakridge #vancouver#oakridgemall#fire#vancouverfire
🔥 pic.twitter.com/yjCELO19PD
— Speed of $cience. (@ToXiTron) June 3, 2023
Videos of the fire at the Oakridge Centre redevelopment were shared on social media. In the videos, you can see flames and thick, black smoke billowing into the air.
Fire fighters could only access this big fire after 10~15 minutes due to lack of safety measures at #Oakridge #development @CBCVancouver pic.twitter.com/cIyEok1eHM
— Mohammad Miri (@mirismohammad) June 3, 2023
Uhh fire at the new building under construction at Oakridge #fire #vancouver #oakridge pic.twitter.com/GJdABV8qYZ
— 🙂 Michelle (@MichelleYuen9) June 3, 2023
Huge fire at #Oakridge in #Vancouver – anyone know what’s going on? pic.twitter.com/s8gfJez1yB
— Sason Ross (@SasonRoss) June 3, 2023
According to VFRS, it was difficult to gain access to the fire because the construction site is very large. Once they did, the fire was out relatively quickly, and now crews putting out hot spots.
Security guards and construction workers were on site at the time of the fire, but no injuries have been reported yet. Fire investigators are on scene now to determine how the fire started.
Smoke from the fire reportedly noticeable from as far away as the North Shore and YVR airport.
Looks like there's a huge fire in the Oakridge area.
As seen from the distance at YVR. pic.twitter.com/O5fdpdcbXx
— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) June 3, 2023