Community rallies around fire victims
Volunteers have raised more than $38,000 in a week
He came back to Canada in search of a better life.
Born to Chilean asylum seekers, Byron Rivera Droguett, 23, lived in Canada for the first two years of his life. When his family’s refugee claim was denied, they were forced to return to Chile in 2000.
Nearly two decades later, Droguett returned to Canada in 2019 accompanied by his mother, who helped him get settled. By the time his mother returned home to Chile in early January, Droguett had a steady job and a home — a small apartment at 828 Shaw St.
“We came back to Canada so that he would have more possibilities and a better quality of life,” said his mother, Patricia Droguett Hernandez.
Just a week after his mother left because her visa had expired, a major four-alarm fire tore through Droguett’s lowrise apartment complex near Christie Pits Park. Now, more than a week later, Droguett is still in hospital — fighting for his life after suffering severe burns — and his mother is trying to secure a visa to return to her son.
“My son needs me more than ever,” Hernandez told the Star in an email translated from Spanish. “When I was able to see him through the goodwill of a nurse and talk to him via Zoom, my soul was broken. I can’t stop crying. This has been very difficult for me because I took him to Canada for a better life and I almost lost him.”
The four-alarm blaze broke out in the early morning of Jan. 15. By around 6:30 a.m., police reported black smoke and flames coming from the roof of the 17-unit apartment building. Just before 9 a.m., the building’s roof collapsed, according to police. Firefighters rescued 11 occupants. Four were transported to hospital — one in critical condition.
Now, dozens of community volunteers are rallying to support Droguett and the 20 displaced residents of 828 Shaw St. As of Monday, a GoFundMe campaign for Droguett and his mother has raised just over $3,000 of its $15,000 goal.
University-Rosedale MPP Jessica Bell said she is working with the office of University-Rosedale MP Chrystia Freeland to get a visa for Hernandez so she can reunite with her son.
A separate GoFundMe campaign to support all the residents was started by Gloria Britstone, a neighbour and a close friend to one of the residents, shortly after the fire. It has raised more than $35,000 in a week — surpassing its goal of $20,000. The money from this general fund will be used to provide immediate assistance to the displaced residents and help them find housing.
“We are incredibly appreciative that the community has been so generous, but the reality for these tenants is that, to the best of our knowledge, they are all uninsured,” said Becca Young, who is also leading the volunteer group. “They’re starting from scratch. So $35,000 divided over 13 households — which includes families with multiple kids — isn’t much. The need is great.”
Red Cross provided assistance to the displaced tenants for the first 72 hours. Some of the tenants are staying with friends, while the city is putting up other residents in a hotel. However, the city’s arrangement is set to end Jan. 29, Britstone said.
Coun. Mike Layton (Ward 11, University-Rosedale) told the Star he is in contact with the building’s management to help rehouse the displaced tenants.
“We need to focus on these families — identifying places for them to stay and then making sure that they can rebuild their lives quickly,” said Layton, who lives down the street from the apartment building.
Britstone and Young’s volunteer group, in conjunction with the local NDP riding association, is organizing a gift card drive for the displaced residents. Community members can drop off donations from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday at the southeast corner of Christie Pits Park, or by emailing unirosendp@gmail.com.
“Many of these residents are traumatized and almost all of them have lost all of their belongings,” Bell told the Star. “They’re really struggling right now.”
A spokesperson for Toronto Fire Services confirmed another fire had broken out at the same building Jan. 4. A fire inspection conducted Jan. 11 revealed 12 fire code violations at the lowrise complex.
Between 2018 and Jan. 17, 2022, the city received 53 complaints for 828 Shaw St, leading to nine property standards orders and two notices of violation. The city levied 12 charges and 10 reinspections fees against the building’s owner for not completing orders within a reasonable time frame.
Property records obtained by the Star reveal the building is owned by Rakesh Gupta, a Toronto realtor. A spokesperson for Rakesh Gupta Realty Limited declined to comment on those violations.
The spokesperson for Toronto Fire Services told the Star that investigations for the fires on Jan. 4 and Jan. 15 are still ongoing and causes have yet to be determined.