‘All gone’: East Vancouver artists reeling as they take stock of damage from fire

About a dozen tenants of an East Vancouver studio are reeling as they take stock of the damage from a devastating fire.

Two years ago, portrait photographer Brandon Hart moved into a studio in East Vancouver, near Hastings Street and Commercial Drive.

On Wednesday, he spent hours scouring the charred building, trying to salvage his life’s work.

“I had a moment where I came outside and I just sat down, and I started crying,” he said.

Hart is referring to a devastating fire that tore through the building located at 1736 E. Hastings St.

On Sunday, just after 3 p.m., Vancouver Fire Rescue Services received multiple calls to the building.

The fire was upgraded to a second alarm fire and is still under investigation, according to Capt. Matthew Trudeau, with VFRS.

“After the fire was extinguished, firefighters helped the building owner recover some belongings from inside,” he added.

$100,000 in damage

Tenants like Hart are still busy searching through the ash.

He estimates he’s lost upwards of $100,000 in equipment and personal items.

His family is preparing to move, and he had stored some boxes in his studio space.

“I don’t know what to get first,” he said. “Do I get the charred lights? Do I grab the light stands? If I can see one of my daughters’ toys? What is the priority?”

‘All gone’

Textile artist and freelance clothing designer Emily Spence had rented out one of the studio spaces with a friend since 2023.

She said she’s lost her entire portfolio, samples for clients, and a fabric library she had spent 15 years building.

But the most devastating loss, she said, is a loom that was passed down to her by a woman named Penny.

“The part that is so devastating, I lost all this stuff, but then there’s also this guilt of — I’ve lost these cherished items that Penny entrusted in me and that I was so excited to be working on,” she said. “That’s just all gone.”

The building served as an affordable space for artists and creatives in the city.

Spence said she doesn’t believe she’ll be able to find a suitable replacement.

“The affordability of what we were getting for that amount of space, we won’t find that again,” she said.

In an email to CTV News, Bill Whitford with The Eastside Flea, who manages some of the artist studios in the building through a separate company, said the displacement has caused a lot of uncertainty.

“Creative buildings are few and disappearing fast in Vancouver,” he said.

“And with the cost of living so high, many artists and creatives fear losing what little space they have basically every day.”

Whitford added, there had been previous issues at the building.

“We spent almost the entire first winter with no heat, and were dealing with multiple leaks which at times led to mold and fungus in the building,” he said.

“All of this was communicated to the city with little to no help.”

City’s response

In a statement to CTV News, the City of Vancouver said the commercial building sustained significant damage in the fire and, given its age and condition, demolition is likely.

When asked if the building had smoke and fire alarms, the city said, “the absence of smoke detectors is consistent with the building’s age, type, and non-residential use.”

The statement added, “as the building is approximately 76-years-old, the building was not constructed with modern sprinkler requirements and retrofits would only be triggered if there was a significant change of use.”

The city added VFRS conducted a regular inspection of the space in 2023 and found that there were no fire and life safety issues.

“In accordance with the city’s lease agreement, the tenant is responsible for building maintenance and repairs, and the addition of smoke detectors and fire alarms if they choose to install,” the statement continued.

A GoFundMe has been launched to provide financial support for the tenants.