Deadly fires:

Mountain tragedy second fatal blaze in CityHousing this year

The tragic blaze at an east Mountain home was the second fatal fire this year at a building owned by the city’s social housing agency.

But the latest operational review for CityHousing Hamilton gives the agency generally good marks for fire safety and prevention efforts.

The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the Thursday blaze that claimed the lives of three family members at 36 Laird Dr. A provincial investigator also probed the cause of a ninth-floor fire in February after an unidentified resident died in a CityHousing Hamilton tower on Main Street West.

Agency head Tom Hunter said Thursday he can’t talk about an ongoing fire investigation, but confirmed the Laird Drive home was inspected June 1 and found to have working smoke detectors.

He said the agency contracts with Vipond Canada to annually inspect smoke detectors at “every one” of the social housing agency’s buildings, which altogether include close to 7,000 units in apartments, townhouses, duplexes and single-family homes.

The latest operational review of the agency — a 2016 inspection that looked at seven multi-unit buildings — found up-to-date inspection log books, fire safety plans, posted exit routes and working carbon monoxide detectors in all cases.

The agency also teamed up with the fire department on a public awareness campaign following serious blazes in 2016, meeting with around 1,000 residents to talk about fire prevention and safety.

The operating review says new tenants in the inspected buildings received and signed off on a package of fire safety materials.

It also noted the agency’s commitment to deal with a particular out-of-service firefighter access elevator did not include a deadline.

Delayed elevator repair has been an issue for many owners of older apartments, including CityHousing Hamilton, because of difficulty replacing aging equipment and parts.

But building repairs in general are a challenge for the social housing agency, which often reports annual capital repair shortfalls of $8 million or more.

That has prompted the housing provider to begin selling off more than 100 dilapidated single-family homes, many in the east end or on the Mountain. Money raised is largely earmarked to build new easier-to-maintain multi-unit social housing buildings.

The home destroyed in Thursday’s fire was considered for sale as well in 2015, Hunter confirmed, but ultimately retained. About $15,000 worth of repairs were done that year.