Firefighters spent Wednesday afternoon attacking a fire near the intersection of Prior and Gore streets in Vancouver.

A Vancouver Fire Rescue battalion chief Todd Katanchik said the fire began in the rubble of a Strathcona home that burned down in May.

He said crews, along with several trucks, were called at around 12:30 p.m. PT. They focused their efforts on making sure flames didn't spread to nearby homes.

The cause of Wednesday's fire is unclear, he added.

"It's gonna be pretty tough to determine exactly what caused this," Katanchik said. "It's just a big pile of debris left from the house."

Photos from the scene showed smoke billowing around homes near the viaducts.

Firefighters say the fire started in a pile of junk and rubble from an earlier fire. (Ash Kelly/CBC)

'Scary'

The May fire, which destroyed two Vancouver homes and damaged another, was set maliciously, firefighters have determined.

The house was vacant when it went up and neighbours reported a steady stream of scavengers after the fire, combing the rubble for valuables, as well as an increase in break-ins.

"It's scary being in this neighbourhood and knowing there are so many fires here," neighbour Jonathan Head said Wednesday.

A city spokesperson wrote in an email that staff have been urging the owners of the two properties to hire crews to clear the debris from the fire, and will prioritize issuing permits for that work.

The city has also made multiple orders to secure the site, and after Wednesday's fire, officials are ordering the owners to pay for someone to monitor the properties.

Complicating the cleanup process is the fact that one of the properties was in the midst of being sold at the time of the original fire. That sale closed in July, and the new owner, Rajvir Parmar, has told CBC that cleanup crews will begin work on Thursday.

With files from Ash Kelly, Yvette Brend and Tina Lovgreen