No place like‘ Home Sweet Home’
Seasons Le th bridge Gardens residents displaced by fire welcomed home
Residents of the Seasons Lethbridge Gardens raised a glass on Wednesday to officially welcome back those displaced by a serious fire last July.
The facility hosted a “Home Sweet Home” event to celebrate the end of construction on the building and to greet residents who have been waiting to get back into their homes.
“It’s been a long journey for the families and the staff,” said company CEO Mike Lavallee. “Today is a culmination of that. It’s a great opportunity for us to come together and say, ‘welcome home.’”
Alicia Zoeteman, general manager at Seasons Lethbridge Gardens, said residents were anxious to get back to their residences, but that the area needed to be safe for them to do so.
“Ultimately, they were all grateful they were all safe and unharmed,” she said. “We are very happy to be welcoming them back this month. Today is really about celebrating those residents that chose to stay living with us, and thanking them for their patience in sticking it out this year.”
About 35 Lethbridge firefighters responded to the fire at The Gardens complex on Garry Drive West just past 3 p.m. on July 11 last year after an improperly disposed cigarette started what would be deemed a “large-scale” firefighting event.
Close to 140 residents and their pets were evacuated. There were no injuries.
At the time, the fire department estimated the fire to have caused between $2 million and $3 million in damage.
Lavallee said while the fact nobody was hurt in the event was a big positive, there were still hardships, as all residents were displaced in one way or another.
“The good story here is that we had an opportunity to make sure our systems and processes were right, our training procedures were right. It all worked. And now, after a year of rebuilding, everyone is ready to be home.”
He said there were no major changes made as a result of the fire, though there were some changes made in regards to updating building codes.
“We had opportunities to improve our systems where building bylaws required them,” he said. “They were opportunities to improve our systems. But, by and large, we had a review of our systems, and we’re on the right track.”