…The building that went up in flames in the Dunbar area of Vancouver is a six-storey, wood-frame structure that had been under construction. Felix Wiesner, an assistant professor in the department of Forestry at the University of British Columbia explains buildings that are built with wood are at higher risk of fire breaking out during construction. “Most of the timber in a six-storey combustible wood building will be encapsulated, so hidden behind gypsum board. But during construction, all of that timber is available. So if there’s a fire, you have a very large fuel load potentially getting involved,” he explained. …However, once completed, and once safety features like sprinklers, alarms, and compartmentation are fully built in, Wiesner says wood-frame buildings are about as safe as concrete- or steel-frame buildings. …Wiesner says builders need to have a water source in the event of a fire, once combustible materials are brought to the site.