A total of 20 people are without a place to live after building inspectors declared a Valleycliffe apartment building uninhabitable after a major fire two weeks ago.
For a short time, a few people were living in building number five at Westway Village but the fire-damaged structure was deemed an unsafe place to live.
Tim Dennill of Walsh Restoration Services said a lack of fire stops in the building and uncertainty about the integrity of the roof structure forced the building inspector to declare the building temporarily uninhabitable.
"The building is not safe to live in," Dennill said.
A crew of 15 Walsh employees is working to prepare the building for reconstruction.
Suite 60, the place where the fire originated, is now completely gutted with all the gyproc, flooring, fixtures and contents removed from the badly damaged apartment. The ceiling in the suite was removed, allowing a clear view of the damaged roof above the suite.
By Monday, Dennill expects his company will be finished with the first phase of the restoration project. The second phase is the reconstruction of the building and he said bids will be collected from companies prepared to do the work.
Walsh will submit a bid and Dennill said he is confident Walsh will be asked to continue with the project."We were here the night it started burning," he said. "We were here while the building was still burning. We helped with emergency social services and helped mitigate the water and structural damage."
He indicated it is too early to say when people will be able to move back into the building but estimated the work could take up to three months to complete.
The people living in the 12 units were all relocated. District of 樱桃视频Council helped with the relocation of a few.
樱桃视频Mayor Ian Sutherland and Coun. Sonja Lebans made a snap decision over the weekend to provide emergency funding so a few of the affected residents were assured of a place to stay.
"It was a case of sending people back to their condemned units or put them up for the weekend," Sutherland said.
The members of District of 樱桃视频Council unanimously supported the $1,500 expense.
Westway Village strata chair Patricia King said only one of the people living in the damaged building had adequate insurance.
If the residents had contents insurance, King said their insurance company would have covered the cost of temporary accommodation and paid for the cleaning of the contents of the apartment.
According to King, a few of the people living in other buildings at Westway Village bought contents insurance soon after the fire in building five.
Those who didn't have insurance were well cared for by Beryl Taylor and the other volunteers in the Emergency Social Services branch of the 樱桃视频Emergency Program, said Dennill.
"It is a lot of work," Taylor said of the efforts to make sure all the fire victims are taken care of.
Those living in the building who get assistance from the Ministry of Human Resources are being well taken care of by that branch of the provincial government, Taylor said.
Four families are still considered displaced: three owners and one renter. The three owners are new to the building and Taylor said their mortgage holders were all reluctant to help in any way.
Taylor said the mayor sent letters to the three mortgage holders asking them to reconsider.
"One [mortgage holder] has agreed to hold back two months of the mortgage and tag it off at the end so he can rent a place for two months," Taylor said. One of the other mortgage holders is considering doing the same thing while the third company is based in Ontario and Taylor isn't expecting any help despite the mayor's plea.
Taylor is now asking the local churches if they will help cover the costs of the final two families not being helped by any other agency.
"I'm confident that somehow we will get some help for the two families," Taylor said.
Like King, Taylor stressed the need for people to buy contents insurance because having the insurance eliminates uncertainty in the event of a major fire like the one at Westway Village on April 8.
