Gutted by fire, Vancouver's 115-year-old Winters Hotel will be torn down this week

Vancouver is tearing down a Gastown heritage building gutted by fire last week, displacing nearly 150 residents and several businesses.

On Tuesday, the city announced it is immediately starting an estimated three-day demolition of the Winters Hotel on Abbott Street, saying the building could not be saved.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Low-income people in the single-resident occupancy (SRO) building are being moved into another SRO nearby. Seventy residents lost their homes, and slightly more had to leave a neighbouring SRO due to noxious smoke.

"We are recommending that businesses and residents near the building close all windows and move items inside before the demolition begins," said Saul Schwebs, Vancouver's director of buildings policy and inspections, at a press conference Tuesday morning.

"This has been a very difficult time," he added, for the seven businesses located on the street level of the building and former residents of rooms above.

"One of the reasons we're operating as quickly as we are is to get people rehoused as quickly as we can."

City officials announced their plans Tuesday to demolish the hotel, built in 1907, as displaced residents began moving into a nearby property on Columbia Street also run by Atira Property Management. The fire sent several people to hospital and destroyed businesses and the possessions of low-income residents. 

WATCH | Fire in building in Vancouver's Gastown sends 5 to hospital: 

Several people rescued after fire rips through Vancouver building

3 years ago

Duration 2:16

Officials say several people were rescued and taken to hospital following a serious blaze that tore through a building in downtown Vancouver on Monday. The building houses several businesses and a single-room occupancy hotel on the upper floors.

Jennifer Hansma has been couch surfing with friends since the fire and, like many displaced residents, she said it has been a hard week.

"I lost my cat, I've lost everything," she told CBC News. "We've only got $75 so far, what's $75 going to do? ... What about the rest of our lives?"

Schwebs said, given the age of the 115-year-old site, "We do have to assume there is asbestos present, although there has been no assessment made of that."

City officials will closely monitor air quality during demolition to ensure the air is safe to breathe, the city said, and Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services will be wetting the area and nearby buildings with hoses to keep demolition dust down.