Fire outside Vancouver strip club being investigated as possible arson: police

VANCOUVER — Police are investigating a fire on a boat out front of a Vancouver strip club as possible arson.

Vancouver police say officers received calls of a boat on fire parked on a trailer in the parking lot outside the Gallery Show Lounge on Sunday around 12:30 a.m.

Firefighters attended and put out the blaze and Const. Darren Wong says there were no reports of injuries.

He says in a statement that early investigation suggests the fire is the result of suspected arson and that he doesn’t expect any updates until later this week.

Last month the B.C. Supreme Court upheld a decision by the provincial liquor branch in February to end the club’s liquor licence, citing evidence of violence and alleged drug trafficking.

At the time owner Anthony Pomonis said he believed police “want to get rid of Gallery and erase me from the hospitality industry.”

The court ruled the club would “present a clear danger” to the public if its liquor licence were restored and it reopened.

The court ruling outlined 94 calls to police in the two years the club had operated, which involved “violent incidents, including a homicide, stabbing and shooting in which two people were shot.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2026

The Canadian Press