'now what's going to happen?' residents displaced by richmond apartment fire
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the fire in an apartment building near seventh avenue and broadway street in the steveston neighbourhood was reported shortly before 8 p.m. on tuesday.
nick procaylo
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ted hesketh tried to contain his emotions wednesday morning as he looked up at the blackened exterior walls of the fraser place apartments in steveston, hours after a fire forced residents of the complex to flee.
alarms started going off at around 8 p.m. on tuesday. he usually ignores the alarm, but he heard commotion from neighbours and decided to get out.
then he rushed back into his unit to grab what he could: cash, a hard drive and his google account password.
hesketh, a music instructor, has lived in the building for 15 years.
“i got a good mortgage rate back then … but now what’s going to happen?” he wondered aloud.
when firefighters arrived at the scene of the fire near seventh avenue and broadway street they saw smoke and flames coming from the upper floor, according to grant wyenberg, assistant deputy chief of operations at richmond fire-rescue.
firefighters worked to contain the blaze while others assisted with evacuating and searching the building. wyenberg said no injuries were reported to either residents or fire personnel.
richmond fire-rescue said 20 residents in the building were receiving support and were taken to a community centre overnight. other residents in the building were able to stay overnight with family or friends.
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the cause and point of origin of the fire remain under investigation.
the fire in an apartment building near seventh avenue and broadway street in the steveston neighbourhood was reported shortly before 8 p.m. on tuesday
nick procaylo
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residents in the building were unable to return wednesday, and many worried about their future.
hesketh’s unit is one floor below and one unit over from the top-floor unit that appeared to be the source of the fire with its windows blown out and walls blackened.
hesketh said his former partner lives in a house across the street and was kind enough to let him in.
neighbours in the area near garry point park also stepped in to help.
“our neighbours took in a family with a little kid that was standing on the sidewalk freezing,” said chris sidsworth, who lives in an adjacent development.
“thank god they got (the fire) under control. if it started to jump from roof to roof, it would have been just a disaster. there is the co-op right next door and the units back into there. like i said, those firefighters were just amazing.”
t.j. note, a singer-songwriter and therapist, lives in a corner suite on the other side of the building and was exhausted by the ordeal, but grateful for her three-year-old service dog who started acting strangely before the smoke alarm went off. she had just returned from picking up groceries from costco and settling in with her nephew who had come to stay with her. her dog’s odd behaviour prompted her to knock on the doors of her neighbours and urge them to move even though there wasn’t a sign of immediate danger.
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“when i went outside, they said, ‘no, this is a real fire.’ i did not see the blaze. i went back in and grabbed my nephew. i gave him one cat and said, ‘get out of here. don’t wait for me.’ and then i had to rip out the couch to find the other cat. i’m glad i didn’t see the flames because there’s no way my nervous system would have been able to handle it if i knew how serious it was.”
there are 258 suites across three buildings over 2 1/2 hectares at fraser place apartments, which was built in 1978 and is managed by canadian apartment properties reit.
kaja kretz on her phone following an apartment building fire at 11675 seventh ave
nick procaylo
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kaja kretz, who lives in one of the other three lowrise buildings in the same complex, started a gofundme, knowing that some residents with young children don’t have renters’ insurance and won’t be able to easily sort temporary accommodation and compensation for their losses.
“either (their insurance) was just expiring and they were going to renew it and things happen, and nobody expects this,” she said.
hesketh reflected on the sudden change in his circumstances.
“i live a simple life by myself. no alcohol, exercise all the time, eat proper and get up at three in the morning and go to bed at eight and i never felt better in my life — until this all happened.”
with files from tiffany crawford
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