Eight people are homeless after a fire in a detached garage spread quickly to an adjacent garage and a pair of houses in Vancouver early Friday morning.

Vancouver Police are now involved in the investigation after an unusually large amount of flammable cleaning agents were discovered in the garage where the fire started.

Police and fire investigations are also looking into a second early-morning fire that appears to have been deliberately set in the basement of a house on Renfrew Street near Third Avenue.

Vancouver firefighters called to 3149 E. 28th Ave. at around 3 a.m. Friday arrived to find the the home's detached garage fully involved. The fire soon spread to the house.

The intense heat from the garage fire also blew out the windows of an adjacent garage at 3151 E. 28 Ave. and set the siding ablaze.

A second alarm was called after the fire jumped to a neighbouring home at 3147 E. 28 Ave.

Eight occupants of the two fire-damaged houses were safely evacuated and emergency social services were called in to help the residents find temporary accommodations.

The fire caused extensive damage to all the buildings involved. It's not known how long it will be before the displaced residents can return home.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined. Fire investigators were forced to summon the Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) team after discovering a large amount of chemical cleaners in the garage.

"Upon going in, they found an unusually large amount of flammable chemical cleaner and that flammable agent helped (the fire) grow to the size that it did," said Capt. Gabe Roder, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson.

Investigators have ruled out the chemicals as the source of the fire. Vancouver Police are now looking at why the cleaners were in the garage, but Roder refused to speculate about how the chemicals were being used.

Vancouver firefighter were also dispatched to a home at 1905 Renfrew Street at 4:28 a.m. Friday. The first crews arrived to find the basement of the two-storey house full involved.

The fire was quickly knocked down, but not before it caused significant damage to the single-family residence.

Vancouver fire and police are continuing to investigate the blaze, but early indication is it was deliberately set.

"We've determined the fire was set in the basement and it is probability an arson," Roder said.

The house was occupied, but no one was home at the time.

dweir@blackpress.ca