Driver blows through North Van roadblock and crashes into house, igniting gas fire

A driver in North Vancouver blew through a police roadblock near the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge shortly after midnight on Friday, sped away over the bridge, then crashed his vehicle into a house in East Vancouver, rupturing a gas line and setting the house ablaze.

The rental house on McGill Street, where four people were at home, was destroyed in the fire.

The incident happened late Friday night, when the driver of a Ford Ranger truck blew through a roadblock set up by North Vancouver RCMP on the Main Street on-ramp to Highway 1 eastbound at around midnight, said Const. Mansoor Sahak, spokesman for the detachment.

North Vancouver police officers followed the truck over the Ironworkers bridge, and briefly lost sight of the vehicle. Moments later, they saw the truck – some distance away by now – lose control, leave the road and crash into a house in the 2000-block of McGill Street in East Vancouver. The force of the crash ruptured the main gas line at the house and sparked a massive fire, said Assistant Fire Chief Jarret Gray of Vancouver Fire and Rescue.

“That collision caused a spark that caused a massive fireball,” said Gray.

Gray said the fire and ruptured gas line created a “blowtorch effect” that was too dangerous for firefighters to tackle until FortisBC crews came to turn off the gas – about 40 minutes later.

By the time the fire was put out, the house suffered extensive structural damage, said Gray.

Gray said the front end of the truck was damaged at the scene and it would likely have taken “a good hit” to cause the gas line to ignite. He added he hasn’t seen anything like it in his career.

The driver of the truck fled the scene after the crash but was tracked with the assistance of Vancouver Police Department, said Sahak.

A West Vancouver man in his late 20s was taken into custody. Sahak said the investigation into the incident is continuing.

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