Bus operator Brian Donovan was on his last trip of the night, just before 2 a.m. on July 23, heading towards downtown Vancouver as the 20 Victoria to Downtown bus.

Brian had just passed Campbell Avenue on East Hastings Street when he spotted a strange light in the corner of his eye on the sidewalk in the night haze.

It was a fire.

The storefront of a cheese shop had caught fire.

Without hesitation, Brian sprang into action after safely stopping his bus.

Like Iron Man blasting his repulsor beam, Brian confidently doused the flames with his fire extinguisher.

It was out within seconds, and Brian was back on his bus in minutes and on his way to his next stop.

“I knew that the firefighters were coming,” he says, adding a nearby security guard was first on scene and had called 9-1-1 already. “There’s no sense in blocking them with my bus, so I kind of carried on.”

Brian finished his shift and thought that was the end of it. But it was actually the start of a whirlwind week.

By morning, his phone was popping off after Joe Chaput, the owner of the shop, shared CCTV footage showing Brian putting the fire out on the social media platform, X.

“Big round of applause for this @TransLink driver who prevented an arson from becoming a terrible situation,” wrote Joe on X. “And thanks to @VanFireRescue too!”

It could have been a lot worse

Brian’s quick thinking and acuity to put out the fire has earned him praise from Joe, Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, and Coast Mountain Bus Company.

Joe is especially thankful as his shop, les amis du FROMAGE, might not have been able to open the next day had the flames not been doused by Brian, which prevented it from spreading.

“[It could have been] much worse than it was,” Joe says. “You came at the right time. It’s not really a part of your job, and we appreciate it.”

This quick-thinking earned Brian a fire chief’s commendation from Chief Karen Fry of Vancouver Fire Rescue Services and a certificate of recognition from Coast Mountain Bus Company.

The chief presented him with a framed print with the commendation, along with a challenge coin, at Vancouver Fire Hall No. 1 in Strathcona.

“I know you might think it was a small action, but it really did mean a lot and we thank you for stepping up and making a difference in our community,” said Chief Fry to Brian.

That’s because fires can spread quickly.

“We know that fires are doubling in size every 30 seconds — if not even more — the moment that it breaks glass or gets into that building [and] it finds a pathway for it to go,” Chief Fry explains.

“And as we heard from the owner of the building, there’s a lot of paper products, which are highly combustible. It could have been potentially that business could have been shut down for months.”

That’s what made Brian so deserving of this rare honour.

A well-deserved honour

Chief Fry says this commendation was “only the third or fourth one” she’s issued since being appointed fire chief in 2020.

But Brian, still humble as ever, thinks it was no biggie. He credits just being at the right place at the right time, and the training he received as an operator. Brian started just over six months ago with Coast Mountain Bus Company, which delivers most of Metro Vancouver’s bus service for TransLink.

Operators complete a robust and rigorous six-week training program that covers not only how to safely operate a bus, but also fire prevention. Each trainee operator completes a 60-minute session on fire prevention that encompasses both theory and a practical component that involves putting out a demonstration fire.

“In training, they do a pretty good job showing us how to use the fire extinguishers,” says Brian. “Everyone in our class got to put out the demonstration fire, so I did a practice one before the real deal, which was nice.”

All buses are equipped with a fire extinguisher to help respond to emergencies on buses — and in this case, off the bus too.

“The fire wasn’t very large, so I thought, they [Coast Mountain Bus Company] gave me a fire extinguisher [on board the bus],” says Brian. “I should probably use it instead of, watching it burn and waiting for someone else to come.”

The saying goes a hero is no braver than an ordinary person, but they are braver five minutes longer.

Five minutes was all it took for Brian to put out the fire and get back on schedule.

Grate-ful

“We’re so grateful that he used his skills and his training and his quick actions to make that decision to help protect our city,” says Chief Fry.

Don Palmer, Coast Mountain Bus Company’s vice-president of operations, was equally grateful when presenting Brian with his certificate of recognition.

“We’re very proud of the actions that you took,” Don said. “And I’m here to present this [to] Brian for his outstanding bravery and quick action in putting out a fire at a local business. Your dedication and courage are truly commendable and have made a significant impact on our community.”

As a cheese shop owner, Joe naturally gifted Brian a charcuterie box to show his appreciation.

The eyes and ears of our communities

Serving and being the eyes and ears of our communities is just in our DNA.

Each day, close to half-a-million people each day rely on transit. Students, newcomers, frontline and shift workers — they all depend on us. That’s our why.

Staff work 24 hours a day, seven days a week in our communities — whether it’s operating buses or undertaking essential maintenance on the SkyTrain tracks overnight. Stand on a street corner and very likely you’ll see us within moments.

Chief Fry says in her experience transit staff are often the ones reporting emergencies in our communities.

“We’ve had countless number of reports of fires that have started [which they] have actually called in to 9-1-1 [because] they see things before anybody else would a lot of times in our community,” she says.

“So yeah, they’re the eyes and ears on the ground, kind of being our everyday heroes out there.”

With files from Vincelen Salvaloza, Thor Diakow and Connie Au