A reader submitted this photo of the remains of his burned apartment in Forest Grove. (Submitted photo/Brendan Wishart-Mundell)

By Susan McNeil

Forest Grove fire

Most apartment residents have found new accommodations following fire

Mar 22, 2022 | 11:00 AM

Most of the residents displaced by last week’s fire are in new apartments, said a Weidner representative yesterday.

Weidner has found new living spaces for most of the residents affected, said Kris Figurski, regional vice president for the company.

Much of the building was severely damaged by fire and the rest by smoke and water.

“The fire was quite extensive and about one-half of the building had severe damage,” said Figurski.

In the days since the fire, which started the morning of March 15, some residents have been allowed to go into their units to claim important items.

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Staff have been helping people that lived in the less damaged portion recover some of their belongings, but no one will be allowed in alone.

“If people have personal belongings that are hard to replace, obviously we want to try to help them and get everything they can with them, but we just need to make sure we’re doing so in a safe manner,” said Figurski.

As for the burned portion, it seems as if not much will be recovered from that area.

Even the unburned half is not safe to enter as the water from suppression efforts caused walls to be unsafe and some electrical fixtures are loose.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, said the Prince Albert Fire Department.

Two fire inspectors have been assigned to the investigation and the Prince Albert Police have also assigned an officer.

All tenants are required by Weidner to have tenancy insurance so most will recover some portion of their losses and most will see a return of some money from the company.

“We’re refunding everyone’s rent from the fire date moving forward, or course letting them out of any leases and obligations they have,” said Figurski.

The Red Cross, working with the local Mobile Crisis Unit, helped with aid such as hotel rooms for the 72 hours following the fire although some people found alternative places to stay.

“Mobile Crisis actually responded and they were able to assist 17 apartments,” said Gwen Pearce, Emergency Management Co-ordinator for the Red Cross in North East Saskatchewan.

Tenants were also provided food during their stay and emergency clothing if they could not grab clothing when they left their building.

Pearce said she has not yet heard of a need for donated household items amongst the displaced people and the Salvation Army often helps out with things like that.

Some of the tenants were in the midst of pre-planned moves and notice had already been given, said Figurski.

Overall he feels the company has been successful at helping its tenants despite the magnitude of the loss.

“It’s an incredibly traumatic experience and I feel so badly for all those people,” said Figurski. “There are things that are hard to replace…and I can only imagine the stress they’re going through.”

The company has not decided yet whether they will rebuild the apartments.

They will be waiting for the final fire inspectors report and will have the building assessed by structural engineers and more inspections.

“It’s entirely possible that this may be a rebuild entirely as opposed to restoring the damaged parts of the building. It’s just a bit early to answer that yet but that is a decision we’ll be making in the near future,” Figurski said.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow