Weeks after a massive fire caused a construction crane to fall in Vancouver's Dunbar-Southlands neighbourhood, crews have begun clearing it.
But, it's not going to be a fast operation.
Authorities told CBC Wednesday they hope to have the street open and utilities repaired by Labor Day.
Saul Schwebs, Vancouver's chief building official, said crews and investigators needed time to come up with a removal plan, given both the need to preserve evidence for the investigation into what went wrong and to ensure no further damage takes place.
"We know how to erect cranes and we know how to take them down," he said. "How to remove them off a street is a different matter … we're concerned about it shifting, we're concerned about it rolling over. We still have occupied houses next door."
He added that the crane is not being salvaged. Invesigators will be examining it for clues to determine what caused its collapse.
It came down Aug. 6 as a raging fire on Aug. 6 destroyed a six-story building under construction. It sliced through a house trapping a man, who was rescued through a window by firefighters.
No civilians were hurt, but some firefighters suffered minor injuries.
The fire left nine houses damaged including three that will have to be demolished.
Vancouver Fire Rescue Services Deputy Chief of Operations Trevor Connelly said the investigation continues into the cause of the fire.
"What I can tell you is that the fire has been determined (as) accidental, but the exact cause at this point is undetermined," Connelly said.
"This building, in this stage of construction, there's a lot of tradespeople working in there, so there's a number of potential causes. But we have not been able to nail down the exact cause at this time."
