We saw smoke from a fire when walking along the seawall last weekend and heard fire brigades moving in that direction. Luckily the smoke didn't last long.
There's a lot of construction in Vancouver so there seems to be construction related fires and sometimes fires at old or abandoned buildings.
Older buildings are usually more prone to situations like this due to the deteriorating materials used for gas and electrical services. However, it seems your local fire department has responded well to the incident.