Fire forces hundreds from Donald St. high-rise
Residents poured out of a burning high-rise Monday, leaving their pets, medications and toiletries behind.
Others were left stranded on their balconies after the morning blaze broke out on the ninth floor of 1244 Donald St.
Firefighters used a ladder to reach the stranded residents, and by 10:30 a.m. police had closed the roadway to let firefighters do their work.
Katherine Bushey, 58, and Tony Lewis, 65, who uses a scooter, live on the 17th floor. The first sign of trouble, said Bushey, was flickering lights.
“That was unusual. Then the TV died and the computer died and the phone died. The next thing we know, there’s someone banging on the door.”
They had to leave behind their three cats — Kiki, Koko and Kookoo — and any personal items. At 4 p.m., they were still trying to get back into their units to feed the pets and retrieve medications before heading out for overnight shelter at an unknown destination.
“We have no idea where we’re going. My heart is out for my cats, you know?”
Fire officials were hopeful that tenants in floors one to eight could go home by day’s end, but those in floors nine to 16 would be sent to hotels. More than 100 families were expected to be displaced for the night and possibly longer.
An estimated 150 Syrian refugee families live in the two buildings and some tenants said the displaced were bunking in with fellow Syrians living at 1240 Donald.
“It’s chaotic because they don’t know what to do,” said Becky Desrochers, 41, who lives on the eighth floor with her teenage son and two cats. She also reported seeing water in the corridor on her floor.
Displaced tenants were kept warm in parked OC Transpo buses and the next-door administration office. A Salvation Army truck, meanwhile, was dispensing hot drinks and hamburgers. Dozens of tenants milled about wearing Red Cross blankets, bewildered children arrived home from school looking for their parents, and many Syrians anxiously made contingency plans.
Nine affected floors were deemed inhabitable by the Electrical Safety Authority, which is investigating alongside Ottawa fire staff.
Acting district chief Kevin Lambert said the fire appeared to start in an electrical “conduit” between the ninth and 10th floors, resulting in thick black smoke spilling out into the corridor.
Later in the day there was an effort to individually escort tenants to their units to pick up essentials.
In 2011, firefighters were forced to evacuate all 16 floors of the same building after an explosion in an electrical panel sparked a fire around 1:45 p.m.
Another electrical fire on Sept. 22, 2004 at the high-rise next door, 1240 Donald St., forced 1,000 people from their homes for months. Both buildings are owned by Toronto-based Q Residential.
Lorne Stephenson, a spokesman for Q Residential, said the company has owned the building for three years.
“It’s an unfortunate situation for people to be inconvenienced this way. The authorities are on site ... the fire department is there, and the analysis is going on.
“We are making arrangements to accommodate the people who are being displaced tonight. They are all being accommodated elsewhere this evening and we are hopeful the problem can be rectified and the authorities can clear the building to allow all the families to return as soon as possible.”