Residents found safe after Kitsilano home goes up in flames

Residents found safe after Kitsilano fire Neighbours are calling the firefighters heroes for stopping the spread of Friday’s fire.

Residents who were initially unaccounted for following a house fire in Vancouver's Kitsilano neighbourhood have been located, according to firefighters.

Flames and sparks were already shooting from the roof of the 3rd Avenue home by the time fire crews arrived on scene around 6 a.m., and there was no sign of the people who live there.

Battalion Chief Dale Parno said firefighters have since learned everyone is safe.

Battling the three-alarm fire proved a challenge, and crews had to stop fighting the flames from inside the home because of a threat that the roof could collapse.

The house has been destroyed, but firefighters managed to prevent the flames from spreading to any other properties. At least one neighbouring home sustained water damage, however.

"Due to the slope of the land, the house below is getting water into the basement – there's not much we can do to prevent that," Parno said.

The cause of the fire is unknown but an investigator has been sent to the scene.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Breanna Karstens-Smith