A bus driver received a commendation from Vancouver Fire Chief Karen Fry on Tuesday for racing to extinguish an arson fire set at the storefront of a business in the Downtown Eastside.
Fry was joined for the presentation at Vancouver firehall No. 1 by the driver, Brian Donovan, representatives from Coast Mountain Bus Company and Joe Chaput, the owner of Les Amis du Fromage, whose shop was saved by the alert driver’s actions.
Shortly before 2 a.m. on July 23, Donovan was driving the 20 Victoria/Downtown bus when he spotted the fire outside the cheese shop, walked up with a fire extinguisher and doused the small blaze before it could spread inside.
“Brian first noticed someone standing near a strange light on the sidewalk,” TransLink said in a press release. “He quickly realized it was a small fire in a storefront. His first thought was, ‘I’m gonna put it out.’”
He called it “just common sense and the right thing to do.” A security guard had arrived on scene and called the fire department by then, and Donovan returned to his route and was back on schedule five minutes later.
“Customers were cheering and clapping,” said Donovan. “They were really excited, it was pretty cool.”
Chaput said he gave a “gold star” to Donovan for his speedy response, and thanked him for allowing the store to reopen the next morning without delay.
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.