SRO damaged in Downtown Eastside fire

A fire in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside has damaged a single-room occupancy building.

Fire crews were called to Hastings and Columbia streets shortly after 4 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.

“Crews are now going to be working to just to see how much water damage there is,” says Captain Matthew Trudeau with Vancouver Fire.

He said the fire was contained to one unit.

No injuries are reported.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

Trudeau said these type of fires happen too often.

“We are averaging about one SRO fire a day. But I have seen days where we have had three or four, sometimes five in a single day,” said Trudeau.

“Most often, it’s smokers material, related to drug use.”