2 dead in fire on Hastings Street in East Vancouver

Two bodies have been found in the abandoned warehouse in East Vancouver that burned in an early morning fire Monday morning, according to Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.

The bodies have not been identified and are the first fire deaths in Vancouver of 2015, according to fire officials.

It is not known whether they are the mother and her adult son that were feared dead by others who escaped from the building.

Simona Marsh and Greg Pushie escaped by clinging to a second-floor window ledge.

They say they were visiting their friends who were squatting in the building when they were woken up by a explosion on the ground floor around 1:30 a.m. PT.

Pushie said he tried to warn the two others in the building, but he and Marsh were quickly forced out a second-story window by the smoke and flames.

By the time firefighters arrived around 2:15 a.m. PT the two were hanging outside the window on a ledge.

They could hear the screams of the other woman, aged about 50 and her son, aged about 30, who were trapped inside, Pushie later said.

Firefighters rescued the pair from the window ledge but were unable to help anyone inside because of the heat of the fire.

The pair was taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, but later returned to the scene to see the aftermath.

Pushie said there was virtually no chance the other two would have escaped the fire.

"They way the building is, it is like a maze. If they got out, it would be amazing," said Pushie.

The building was scheduled for demolition and was behind a fence at the time of the fire.

The fire was under control by 6 a.m., but was still smoldering at 7 a.m. PT.

The cause remains under investigation, but firefighters did not say it appeared suspicious.

TransLink says Westbound Hastings Street will be closed between Clark Avenue and Hawks Avenue until at least 9 a.m. PT.

Buses are being rerouted. Routes affected are 14, 16, 20, 135 and 160. Westbound buses are detouring via Commercial, Powell, Main and Hastings.

WATCH | Massive three-alarm fire on East Hastings Street