Newly-opened Italian restaurant shuttered, 6 residents displaced after Vancouver fire | CBC News
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An Italian restaurant that opened in December near the intersection of Vancouver’s Broadway and Main Street suffered water damage after a Wednesday night fire in one of the units above.
Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) Assistant Chief Arnie Groenewegen said firefighters were first called to the older building along East Eighth Avenue in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood around 8:15 p.m. PT on Wednesday.
He said seven fire trucks and 28 firefighters were tasked with putting out the blaze, which started in a bedroom on the third floor of the building.
While the flames were extinguished quickly, Groenewegen said six residents have been displaced as fire investigators worked to determine the cause of the blaze.
“Probable cause here is there was an accident in the bedroom with some sort of electric blanket of some sort, possibly, but our investigators are on scene looking at this right now,” he told CBC News late Wednesday.
Ignacio Arrieta and his partner Joe Fazio had only just opened Osteria Otto, an Italian-inspired restaurant downstairs, in December.
Arrieta said the restaurant was totally full at the time of the fire, and everyone inside had to leave.
“I just hope everything goes smooth with insurance and, you know, everyone is safe. That’s important,” he said.