A late night fire gutted four businesses and damaged a fifth in Vancouver鈥檚 Kerrisdale neighbourhood on Sunday (Oct. 1).

Assistant Fire Chief Keith Stewart said 55 firefighters were called to the intersection of East Boulevard and 41st Avenue around 10 p.m., where they found a building engulfed in flames. No one was inside the businesses at the time, but three people from an adjacent residential building had to be evacuated.

Two firefighters sustained minor injuries, one of whom was sent to hospital and has since been released, Stewart said.

As of Monday morning, 41st Avenue remains blocked off between Maple Street and East Boulevard. Fire investigators are on scene and working to determine the cause of the blaze, but Stewart said the building is so heavily burned it is too dangerous to go inside. He said four of the building鈥檚 businesses are a total loss and a fifth sustained damage.

The three people who were evacuated remain displaced.

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