More comfortable temporary accommodations have been found for some 1,500 residents displaced by a six-alarm highrise fire in St. James Town earlier this week, but they could be out of their homes for months.
“We will be looking at whatever we have to do to provide these people with the best accommodation that we can,” Mayor John Tory said outside the building at 650 Parliament Street Thursday.
Hundreds of residents were forced to flee their units when a “complicated” electrical fire broke out at the building Tuesday and sent thick black smoke billowing through multiple floors.
In a bit of positive news, Tory said Wednesday that there was a strong response to an appeal for available hotel rooms and home-share units, with 230 rooms being offered up since yesterday. That means there are now enough rooms to offer alternate short-term accommodation to all affected residents, some of whom stayed at community centres for the past two nights.
However, Tory said residents may need to plan on being out of their homes for an extended period.
Providing an update Wednesday, Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said the preliminary cause of the fire has now been identified as a major failure in the building’s electrical distribution system.
“As a result of that failure and the resulting fire, there has been significant and major damage to the building’s electrical distribution system,” Pegg said. “This will require very significant repairs before the building is able to be reoccupied and literally before the building is able to be re-energized and of course that means no lights, no elevators, no fire protection systems. There is literally no electricity in the building at all.
“Damage of this significance to the building’s electrical system often requires several months for the repairs to be completed,” Pegg said, though he added that the exact extent of the damage will be up to engineers to determine.
In an encouraging note, he said firefighters have indicated that most of the individual suites in the building did not sustain significant damage.
Firefighters have been helping residents re-enter the building to retrieve personal belongings, medications, pets and other items over the past two days. Pegg said that Toronto Fire will likely wrap up its operations at the building this evening, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
In a statement released Wednesday, the property managers for the building said they are “concerned, shocked and saddened” by the fire. They said that tenants will not be expected to pay rent while they are out of their units and will be credited back any rent already paid to the end of the month.
Management said they are working to try and arrange possible longer term accommodation at adjacent buildings.
Tory also said that he has convened a group of senior officials under the city manager to work with the building owner to look at possible longer-term housing solutions for displaced residents.
“They have already met for the first time this morning and they will report to me on what options they’re beginning to develop in that regard,” Tory said.
He also thanked friends and family who have taken in displaced residents so far.
“I hope you could consider keeping those people in your homes and in your care just a little bit longer as we do sort things out because it has obviously been a great help to us not to have every one of the 1,500 people to look after in the short term,” Tory said.
Tory said Metropasses and food vouchers are being provided to affected families as well.
The city is asking residents who have secured accommodations to update their status by calling at 1-855-797-8875. Hotels with available rooms are also being asked to call the same line so that they can be matched with people who register for accommodation.
Residents who don’t have accommodation for tonight for any reason will be able to stay at the Regent Park Community Centre at 402 Shuter Street, the city said in a release.
