Vancouver firefighters stress design redundancy after Hong Kong fire, note OD surge | Daily Hive

Vancouver firefighters stress building design redundancy after Hong Kong fire, note overdose surge

The Wang Fuk Court towers fire in Hong Kong on Nov. 26, 2025. (V Drone/Shutterstock)

A deadly fire in Hong Kong that rapidly spread to seven high-rise residential towers is prompting renewed calls for Vancouver’s municipal government to put life-safety resiliency and redundancy considerations and principles at the centre of any future decisions on building egress standards.

Earlier this week, International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 18 — the union representing firefighters working for Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) — said the Hong Kong tragedy is “a heartbreaking reminder of how quickly conditions can turn deadly when fire safety systems, materials, and access fail.”

“Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and the firefighters and first responders who faced unimaginable conditions on the front lines,” the union said.

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The comments come as the City of Vancouver continues to weigh potential changes to its building egress rules, including the controversial question of whether some new building developments should be permitted to include single egress stairs.

More specifically, Vancouver City Council is looking to mirror the Government of British Columbia’s recently implemented building code changes, enabling small multi-family residential buildings of up to six storeys with a single exit staircase, instead of the previous requirement of at least two egress staircases for three storeys and higher.

Early this year, after presenting their initial findings and recommendations, City Council directed City staff to perform more research and consultation. At that juncture, City staff expressed opposition to adopting similar allowances.

The provincial government pushed the policy changes forward in 2024, following a technical review and suggestions from housing advocates that it could lower housing construction costs, enable more homes to be built on smaller tracts of land — perhaps even a single-family lot — and open up a new building typology in general. There were also suggestions that such buildings could feature a mass-timber design. Moreover, advocates and the provincial government also pointed out that such buildings are common in Europe and Asia, and are permitted in places like Seattle and New York City.

But critics argue this may compromise safety during fires or other emergencies.

The union emphasized that policymakers must ground their decisions in “real-world fire behaviour and the needs of the people who rely on those buildings every day.”

According to the union, firefighter access, the risk of exterior fire spread, the need for redundant escape routes, and the protection of vulnerable residents are all critical factors that must remain “at the centre of any policy changes.”

The union says it will continue to advocate for building standards that “prioritize life safety and support effective firefighting operations” as council reviews the egress options next week.

While Vancouver faces pressure to accelerate homebuilding amid a historic housing shortage, the union stressed that safety cannot be sacrificed in pursuit of speed. “The path forward requires building more homes, faster, while ensuring every project meets the safety expectations our communities deserve,” said the union.

Fire officials and various organizations that represent firefighters were also against the provincial government’s policies and the City’s proposed adoption.

This past summer, Burnaby mayor Mike Hurley, a former firefighter with decades of frontline experience, also sounded the alarm over new provincial government policies.

It should also be noted that there are some very unique circumstances to Hong Kong’s deadly fire last week, with local officials attributing the cause of the fire’s rapid spread at least in part to sub-standard temporary exterior tower meshing — used for an extensive renovation project of the towers. Hong Kong government officials have since ordered all building mesh at all construction sites across the city to be removed, and over a dozen people associated with the renovation project have been arrested, according to the South China Morning Post.

As of today, at least 159 people have died, including one firefighter, and 79 are injured, and 31 are still missing from the blaze that began on Nov. 26, 2025. There have also been some claims that sub-standard fire safety systems and design considerations inside the towers prevented an efficient and quick evacuation.

Over the years, Vancouver’s fire officials have also raised some concerns about the need for updated fire safety considerations for the increasingly taller towers being built in the city, as well as improved firefighting equipment and infrastructure.

About a decade ago, in response to concerns raised by fire officials, the City prohibited new building developments from skipping floor numbers considered unlucky — such as 13 or any number containing “4,” which is viewed as inauspicious in Chinese culture.

Firefighters battling “compassion fatigue” with frequent overdose responses

Separately, Vancouver Fire Rescue Services issued a statement last week that the 54 opioid overdoses that firefighters responded to on a single day on Nov. 21, 2025, were the most ever in the City’s fire department history. VFRS averaged 16 overdose responses per day in May 2025, rising to an average of 45 per day in the third week of November 2025.

Moreover, firefighters at Firehall 2 located in the Downtown Eastside responded to record levels of calls, including set fires and fire alarms. The number of calls exceeded 80 per day for this single firehall, often requiring the support of additional crews from other firehall locations to assist in Downtown Eastside incidents.

In the third week of November 2025, there were 452 emergency calls into Firehall 2’s district, compared to 229 last year during the same period.

VFRS announced that due to firefighters being continuously exposed to “extreme levels of human suffering,” they are now limiting firefighters to 81 shifts at the troubled Firehall 2 to “try and limit compassion fatigue.”

“Firefighters continue to respond to an unprecedented amount of overdoses and emergencies to try and help this crisis as much as possible,” reads the statement.

This past spring, VFRS also opened a new temporary firehall facility, Firehall 11, the first time this designation has been used, within a tented structure on the 1700 block of East Hastings Street. This temporary facility was specifically created to reduce the strain on Firehall 2.

The temporary firehall was originally proposed for an empty parcel of land in Vancouver’s Chinatown district, but those plans were later cancelled in favour of the location that was ultimately built, following some concerns expressed from area residents and businesses.

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