Vancouver apartment building evacuated after hazmat scare

Vancouver Fire and Rescue's hazardous materials (hazmat) team was called to the 100-block of East 7th Avenue, early Wednesday morning, after reports that something was irritating residents' eyes and throats.

Battalion ChiefBruce Tebbutt said the first fire crew to enter the building around 2 a.m.pulled thealarm, woke up the residents,andevacuatedthe four-storeyapartment building.

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The building's residentscould be seen on the sidewalk outside wearing house robes and pyjamas. Some reported coughing, but manyhadn't noticed anything strange inside the building.

A TransLink bus was brought to give the residentsa warm shelter to wait for crews to inspect the building.

"We had our hazmat team come down to monitor the air in the building just to make sure that there was no flammable problem, or displacement of oxygen," said Tebbutt.

About 35 firefighters responded to the first-alarm call, but crews weren't able to detect anything dangerous inside the building, and after ventilating it,everyone was allowed to go back inside.

"We're just assuming that somebody sprayed some pepper spray in the alley and irritated people's throats," said Tebbutt, who added that he had no idea exactly how the spray would have entered the building.