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Police identify the two killed in a fire that razed Vancouver hotel built in 1907

Vancouver police have identified two people who died in a fire that destroyed a historic building in the city’s Gastown neighbourhood last month.
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Debris falls to the ground during demolition of the Winters Hotel, in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, April 22, 2022. Vancouver police have identified two people who died in the fire that destroyed the historic building in the city’s Gastown neighbourhood last month.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Vancouver police have identified two people who died in a fire that destroyed a historic building in the city’s Gastown neighbourhood last month. 

Police say 68-year-old Mary Garlow and Dennis Guay, who was 53, were killed when the Winters Hotel went up in flames on April 11. 

The hotel, built in 1907, had been the home to dozens of low-income residents. 

The fire department said at the time of the blaze that when crews arrived, it was too dangerous to try to enter the building, and they couldn’t determine if anyone else was still inside. 

Five people were hurt trying to escape the building. 

The fire department later determined that candles left unattended in a second-floor suite started the fire. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2022.

The Canadian Press