Big arson blast shakes Vancouver

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This article was published 14/02/2008 (6626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — Shards of glass and pieces of metal glinted in the sunlight across six lanes of empty road Wednesday, along a route that is usually one of the busiest streets in Vancouver.

But an early-morning blast caused by an arson fire shook city residents awake as far as two kilometres away, destroying two businesses and shattering windows in several nearby buildings.

The Taco Del Mar restaurant and a Starbucks coffee shop were recognizable only by the logos on their badly misshapen and fire-scorched signs.

Several metres away lay a door hurtled down the street by the force of the blast.

Anna Jekli was awakened from sleep around 2:30 a.m.

“It was just a big bang and then I was just waiting for the sirens,” Jekli said as she surveyed the scene.

She was shocked at the damage.

“In about two or three minutes, there was just one siren and then I probably fell asleep because I didn’t hear anything,” Jekli said.

“I’m surprised to see this now,” she said, shrugging toward the charred buildings.

Police said the fire was set inside the taco restaurant and an accelerant set off the explosion.

David Goguen, the manager of the Holiday Inn, said the blast blew glass from one hotel window across the room, frightening the guest inside.

“She seems OK, just shaken, just really nerve-wracked, just being woken by the blast and the glass flying through the room, of course,” Goguen said.

The explosion was centred in the taco restaurant, flaying open the facade and leaving much of the restaurant on the street in front.

Police confirmed Wednesday that arson was the cause of the fire and explosion.

“This is now a police investigation,” said Capt. Rob Jones-Cook of the Vancouver Fire Department. “Police do have further information from eyewitnesses; we’re very early into this yet.”

There had been reports that someone was seen running from the area in the minutes after the blast, but Vancouver police said they couldn’t confirm the claim.

“Whatever caused it was certainly a powerful force,” Jones-Cook told reporters as he looked over the site.

At least four other storefronts on the street were damaged by the blast and the nearby bus shelter was levelled.

— The Canadian Press