By Deborah Shawcross

Tenants start over after fire destroys Regina apartment building

Jan 11, 2015 | 8:00 AM

An apartment fire in south Regina left many people with just the clothes on their backs. 
 
On Friday morning a kitchen fire spread through an apartment building on Parliament Avenue, near Golden Mile Centre. Fire Chief Ernie Polsom called the building “a total loss”.  
 
Scott Vickers was working at Newstalk Radio when the fire destroyed his home. After making sure his daughter was safe and calling his insurance company, he went to the Red Cross. Vickers and 31 other people were given a free hotel room for 72 hours.
 
“I stayed the night in the hotel, to just sit down and decompress for a couple of hours and I got no family in the city at all so didn’t really have anywhere else to go,” said Vickers.   
 
He has since cleared his head and is focusing on finding a new home. Vickers has a one year lease with Boardwalk Rental Communities and already the company has found him an apartment  to view on Monday.  
 
“They’re doing everything they can to try and relocate everybody in the same end of the city, to try to not disrupt their lives anymore than it already has been.”

In the meantime, Vickers went to his brother’s house.
 
“I’m just going to crash here for the night just to be around family and be around something that I recognize and I can kinda call home for now.”
 
Vickers is starting to rebuild with the support of family, friends and the Red Cross. Before buying new furniture he had to go shopping for a whole new wardrobe.
 
“One, I just hate clothes shopping period but two, when you realize ‘I have to do this because I have nothing else but the clothes on my back’ it’s an awful feeling, it’s terrible.”
 
Not everything can easily be replaced, like the photos of his family or the old stuffed dog that belonged to his grandparents.
 
“When my grandpa passed away 15, 16 years ago that’s the only thing I wanted and I got it. Now it’s just like holy crap, that I can’t imagine loosing either.”  
 
Vickers is also sure he won’t be getting back his sister’s hand drawn pictures that were hanging on the wall.
 
“Things like that, that can’t be replaced or bought in a store, that’s going to be tough to swallow.”

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