Dozens displaced after fire levels Goderich affordable housing building

BY BOB MONTGOMERY

Goderich Fire Chief Jeff Wormington says a fire completely destroyed an apartment building on Nelson Street in Goderich Friday night.

 

He said there were 18 units in the three-storey building. The Ontario Fire Marshal has completed its investigation and has been unable to determine what caused the fire, but Chief Wormington says it will likely be considered undetermined because of the loss in the building, but they have determined it wasn’t arson.

 

Wormington says the building will have to be completely taken down eventually, but they are trying to clear up the lower level, where the damage was primarily done by water, so that some people can get in and retrieve some of their personal items, but, because of the amount of water in there, many of the items will not be salvageable. He says they’re going to attempt to salvage as much as they can for people in the upper floors who don’t have content insurance. But he says they had to remove most of the debris from the third floor to relieve the structural pressure on the lower floor so that the investigators could get in there. He says some of the residents of the building are staying in motels and others are with family members but everyone does have a place to stay.

 

Goderich Mayor Trevor Bazinet says they’ve set up spots in the council chambers from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for this week so people can come in and donate gift cards for the people who lost everything in the fire. Bazinet says the reason they’re using the gift cards because that way the people who need the help are going to know what they need, rather than members of the community trying to guess what they might need and the gift cards will allow them to get exactly what they need.

 

Bazinet says the town is accepting cash as well and visiting teams at a ball tournament he organized this weekend said they wanted to make a cash donation on behalf of their ball teams, so that helped raise some money as well.

 

Bazinet says it was amazing that no lives were lost in the fire. He says he’s never seen that much smoke in a fire. He also says he can’t say enough about the Goderich Fire Department and the fire departments from neighbouring communities that helped put out the fire.

 

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At a special meeting in the Goderich Town Council chambers on Tuesday afternoon, Bazinet said it was determined that two residents from the apartment building have asked for an extension for housing. Bazinet explains the Red Cross offers accommodation for 72 hours and, during that time, Huron County Property and Services is to continue to reach out to the people who are unhoused, who have temporary housing, to see if they need an extension. The county can then give them an extension for another 48 hours if that’s required. 

 

Bazinet points out that that doesn’t mean that other people might not be displaced, they just haven’t asked for an extension, they might just have found accommodation with family or a friend until they can find a new home. 

 

According to a CTV News story, the entire building will now have to be demolished and the owner is not planning on rebuilding affordable housing units on that site.