A BRIEF HISTORY OF CONDO EVACUATIONS IN ALBERTA

The residents of a Fort Saskatchewan condominium complex who were forced to evacuate on Friday are not alone in their experience. Over the past decade or so, residents of condo and apartment buildings across the province have met similar fates — where they had to quickly pack and relocate on short notice due to multiple structural and safety concerns of their homes.

Penhorwood Condominiums,

Fort Mcmurray

In March 2011, more than 300 people living at Penhorwood Condominiums were forced to evacuate due to serious safety concerns. Red flags were raised over deficiencies related to the floor truss and i-joists which are used in flooring and roofing systems of the 168-unit building. Back in 2005, an engineer’s report listed a host of problems, including structural, mechanical, electrical, building envelope and roofing. The report said some of those problems posed a “potential hazard to life, health, safety or building integrity.”

The seven buildings that made up the condo complex were torn down in 2015. There were several lawsuits surrounding the incident.

Bellavera Green, Leduc

In 2012, about 150 residents of Bellavera Green in Leduc had to evacuate from their condominium complex. Those residing in the 85 completed units at the time were placed under an evacuation order by the Leduc fire department over “critical life-safety concerns.”

A December 2011 inspection of the building revealed, among other violations, a fire alarm system not up to code, firewalls that had been damaged or removed, and an exterior staircase that had to be condemned. A previous order to fix the problem was ignored, leading to the evacuation order in February 2012, giving residents until the end of March of that year to vacate the building.

The condo was sold out of receivership in March 2013.

Kensington Manor, Calgary

In November 2017, 125 residents of Kensington Manor were forced to quickly evacuate — some with just minutes notice — after the seven-storey building was deemed unsafe to occupy.

Fire crews were called to the building after an inspection related to the balconies found significant issues related to the floors and roof.

The owners of the building attempted to reinforce it with hundreds of trusses in 2018 but did not maintain those efforts. The City of Calgary then took over its management.

In June, a committee recommended the building be torn down.

That work could be completed by March 2020.