METRO VANCOUVER -- A woman is dead after what homicide police say was a case of domestic violence that spread across the entire floor of a Richmond apartment building Sunday and led to residents being pulled from the building by firefighters.

Occupants at the building at 7040 Granville Ave. called police for help around 2 p.m. Officers arrived to find the body of a woman who has not yet been identified, said Corporal Dominic Duchesneau, a spokesman with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

A man was arrested without incident at the scene in relation to the murder, said Duchesneau.

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"The preliminary information suggests that the male in custody knew the victim and it appears to be a domestic violence situation," said Duchesneau, who declined to say how the woman died, noting that it could affect the investigation.

IHIT officials remained at the apartment building late Sunday and members of the Integrated Forensic Identification Section are set to attend the scene Monday.

"As for the victim, we are still trying to identify her," said Duchesneau. "We have a good idea who she is, but we just want to confirm with the family."

Residents of the Panorama Place complex said around a half-dozen police cruisers arrived at the building along with paramedics just after midday.

There, they discovered a crime scene that had spread from an apartment out into the hallway of one of the floors.

Firefighters were called, where they used a ladder to help residents leave the floor where the crime occurred so they could avoid disturbing any evidence.

"Because the crime scene is not strictly in an apartment -- it covers the entire floor. As a result of that, people were stranded inside of their apartment," explained Duchesneau.

Anyone with information about the alleged homicide can call the IHIT Tipline at 1-877-551-4448 or email ihittipline@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

"We are in the very early stages of this investigation and we are working to establish what happened inside the apartment," said Cpl. Duchesneau.

The man who was arrested is scheduled to appear in court Monday.

The incident marks the fifth murder or attempted murder of a woman in B.C. with possible links to domestic violence in as many weeks.

In at least three of the attacks, police had been previously called to the residence, which raises troubling questions about to what extent law enforcement is able to prevent such incidents, said Hilla Kerner of Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter.

When women in abusive situations hear such stories, the message they take away is that police will not be able to protect them from their partners, she said.

“Every time there is a case like this, abusive men will take the paper and tell (women): This is what’s going to happen to you,” she said.

Women who come to the shelter fleeing abusive relationships frequently complain of a weak police response that does not leave them feeling any safer from their partners and haphazard enforcement of restraining order breaches, she said.