Child dead, 5 hospitalized following East Vancouver house fire

Father of toddler killed in fire speaks out A Vancouver father is speaking out after his toddler died in a tragic house fire last week.

A child has died and five people are being treated for injuries following a fire at a home in East Vancouver.

Few details have been confirmed, but the Vancouver fire chief said that a young person had died of their injuries. The age and gender of the child have not yet been released.

Fire Capt. Jonathan Gormick said that two children and three adults are being treated for smoke inhalation and burns.

The death was a result of a two-alarm fire that broke out mid-afternoon Thursday at a house in the area of East 15th Avenue and Nootka Street.

The cause of the fire is unconfirmed, but officials said residents of the neighbourhood reported hearing the sound of an explosion on the main floor shortly before seeing the smoke and flames.

Fire Chief John McKearney said the fire was "fully involved" when crews arrived.

Six people lived at the address, and all were at home at the time, he said.

A Vancouver city councillor who lives in the area said that a family including young children lives at the property.

"This is really tough… I say hi to them every morning. Great kids, always outside playing," Kerry Jang said, tearing up.

"All of us on this street are devastated."

He said he came home and saw the smoke and fire crews, and saw one of the men who lived in the home.

"I don't even know what to say."

A group of girls, who go to school with one of the children who lives in the house, said they went to the school to report the fire.

They said they saw a man, believed to be the father, rush into the home and pull a child out. Another of the children was already outside, they said.

"He was very shocked, and he was very scared," one girl said.

Another resident of the area, Jeffrey Smith, spoke to CTV News as he helped city crews spread salt and sand over the roads.

He said the roads have been "treacherous" this week in his neighbourhood, and that it's been a challenge for everyone to get around.

There are a lot of hills in the area, and the fluctuating temperatures mean the road surfaces have been slick with ice. He said he knew of at least one collision: a driver heading downhill crashed into a tree in front of the home where the fire occurred.

Video from CTV's Chopper 9 showed paramedics slipping along the icy streets and sidewalks as they pushed a stretcher to an ambulance, and it appeared that crews from the City of Vancouver were called in to help put down salt and sand.

A statement from the city said a water operations crew had been in the area sanding side streets, including those around Nootka Elementary School, when they noticed the house fire. The statement said members of the crew attempted to enter the home, but the smoke was too thick.

The city said fire crews requested additional sand, which was delivered by truck, "due to the amount of water used to put out the fire."

Despite the road's icy appearance, firefighters said crews had no difficulty reaching the scene and that their response time was below the target.

The chief said Emergency Social Services has been called to help the family, and resources have been called in to support firefighters who may be struggling emotionally with the situation.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Shannon Paterson, Norma Reid and Ben Miljure