The Forest Grove apartment building was extensively damaged in yesterday's fire and it will be months before anyone can move back in. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

By Susan McNeil

Apartment fire

No access to apartment for months

Mar 16, 2022 | 2:42 PM

Damage to the Forest Grove apartment building in yesterday’s fire was extensive and residents will not be allowed access to their units for some time. Moving back in could take months, said the fire department.

Deputy Fire Chief Alex Paul said that right now, no one is being allowed into the building, even to retrieve belongings.

“It will be quite some time before anyone is allowed back in. Approximately one-half of the building sustained significant water and fire damage,” said Paul.

The most damaged area was the top two floors of the west side of the building. While fire damage was contained to the west side of the fire wall, the east side also received significant water damage.

Whether or not the building is salvageable will be for the insurance company to determine but meanwhile, residents are going to need to find alternative living arrangements.

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“It’s going to be quite some time, I would suggest in the neighbourhood of months, before the building is occupiable by anybody,” said Paul.

Some residents have found accommodation with family members or friends elsewhere.

The Red Cross Mobile Crisis Unit set aside 30 rooms the day of the fire for displaced residents and 28 people ended up needing accommodation.

When first called yesterday at about 11:00 am, firefighters first checked for people in the building.

Once all residents were out, crews put the fire out and then swept the building a second time, including a search for pets.

The SPCA provided kennels and leashes to help with managing the animals. Some of the pets may have been housed by the SPCA if owners were unable to retrieve them yesterday.

Fire department investigators are in the building today, and possibly tomorrow, looking for both the starting point and the cause.

“They will be at it daily until they determine what the cause and the origin of the fire was,” Paul said.

The building had 30 apartments but at least one was unoccupied.

While fires in multi-family units are rare, they do happen and Prince Albert Fire has dealt with them in the past.

A fire of similar size and scope happened at the Apple Green apartments on Olive Diefenbaker Drive between 15 and 20 years ago, Paul said.

There were no injuries reported to either tenants or firefighters.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow