By Keith Fraser, The Province
An arson fire in a Vancouver nail salon had the potential to create a “massive fireball” that would have seriously harmed firefighters, passersby and nearby buildings, a fire expert testified Wednesday.
1100 block of Granville street in Vancouver, BC, November 18, 2013. Vancouver nail salon owner, Trang Thein Dao Nguyen, on trial on charges she set fire to her downtown business (now a Donair Dude). Photograph by: Arlen Redekop , PNG staff photo
Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services Capt. Raymond Bryant said firefighters were “very lucky” that there was no explosion at the Granville Day Spa, located in Vancouver’s busy entertainment district.
Bryant was testifying at the trial of Trang Thein Dao Nguyen, the former owner of the spa who has pleaded not guilty to arson charges in connection with the October 2011 fire.
Trang Thein Dao Nguyen walks out of BC Supreme Court in Vancouver, BC, November 18, 2013. Vancouver nail salon owner on trial on charges she set fire to her downtown business. Photograph by: Arlen Redekop, PNG
The fire official said he believed 10 gallons of gasoline were used in the blaze — more than three times the amount used in a 2008 arson fire that culminated in a gas explosion that destroyed the Taco del Mar restaurant on West Broadway in Vancouver.
Another five gallons of gasoline was found unused in a container in the Granville spa.
The large amount of gasoline created so much vapour that it was too rich to ignite inside the spa, Bryant told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Arne Silverman.
He said that the oxygen inside the building was used up by the flames and had there been more oxygen, there would have been an explosion.
“When an explosion occurs, it will ignite, it will turn into flame and it will create pressure,” he said.
Read the full story by Keith Fraser from the Province.
