1 person sent to hospital after fire in Vancouver building that was meant to be vacant

A fire in an abandoned building in South Vancouver sent one person to hospital, and led to the partial closure of Cambie Street on Saturday morning, leading to traffic delays.

Fire officials said crews were called out to a dilapidated building at the corner of Cambie Street and Marine Drive, near the Marine Drive SkyTrain station, around 10:50 a.m. PT on Saturday.

One person was sent to hospital with smoke inhalation injuries after being pulled out of the building by firefighters, battallion fire chief Randy Boruck said.

The 26-unit building, which was surrounded by fencing, was supposed to be vacant, he said.

"We're unsure of what the cause [of the fire] was," he said, adding investigators are on the scene.

Fire officials are investigating the blaze but don't know what caused it yet. (Renée Lukacs/CBC)

Brad Hesse, assistant fire chief with Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, said crews noticed one person exiting the building when they arrived.

"We do believe that homeless people were living in the building at this time ... we have reports of that from the neighbours," Hesse told CBC News.

Flames were originally coming out of the roof of the building, and crews were on the defensive trying to extinguish the blaze, he said.