Displaced

Lois Jewell doesn’t know where she’s going to live.

A fire forced Jewell from her fifth-floor apartment on Adelaide Street Monday.  The blaze was contained to the single unit, but several floors were damaged by water or smoke.

The Canadian Red Cross covered the cost to relocate the tenants for three days at the Prince Arthur Hotel. Residents of the first three floors of the seven-storey building returned home Tuesday morning.

More people returned to their homes on Wednesday. But anyone living on the fifth floor are still unable to go back.

Jewell, who is on disability, said she couldn’t afford to stay at the hotel anymore so she had to make other arrangements.

But after being on the phone for two hours Wednesday, she said she still didn’t have a plan.

“It’s hard,” Jewell said while choking back her emotions.

“(The company) isn’t doing anything it’s just you should have had insurance and I didn’t know that. I didn’t realize I would be in this situation. They should be covering the people that are out. It’s not our fault this fire started and there’s no need for me to be out on the street with no place to go. As of tomorrow I am without a place.”

Jewell said the company wasn’t handling the situation well and should have answered more of the tenants questions at the meeting Tuesday night.

Despite what has happened, the experience has taught her the value of having insurance.

“I’m getting insurance today,” she said. “I still think Skyline Apartment should be covering everybody that doesn’t have insurance. It is their fault. It’s not my fault.”

Lesaann Foris has lived on the fourth floor of the apartment for more than two years. The fire was just a floor above her and she said she was worried that she may have water damage.

Foris said she loved the neighbourhood and didn’t have any major issues with the apartment or the managers.

Since the fire, those feelings have changed.

“Everybody is scared. I’m scared,” Foris said.

“My roommate asked me if it is safe. Is what happened on the fifth floor going to happen on our floor or someone else’s floor? We don’t know what really happened. We don’t know if it was electrical.

"We know it was accidental. Is it going to happen again? Is it going to flare up on my floor? Is it going to happen when I’m asleep? We just know it was a fire, it spread quickly and badly.”


Foris and the other tenants asked the managers to see the safety report from the Fire Marshal in order to get some peace of mind but were told they probably wouldn’t be allowed to see it.

She said many left the meeting in tears.

“Everyone’s emotions are on the very edge of collapse,” she said. “I think they could have presented (the policies) a little better but they don’t have all the answers either. They feel sincerely badly if you talk to them one-on-one they tear up.”

Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds praised the work of the firefighters and the assistance provided by the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

He said those services are only available for about three days but there will be some emergency assistance from the District of Thunder Bay Social Services and Administration Board for up to two weeks.

“The practice is after 72 hours people transition to more permanent shelter where it is the insurance that takes over temporary lodging or they find other lodgings,” Foulds said. “Usually after 72 hours the Red Cross stops its service so someone else can take over whether it is the individual or something else. In this case there is going to be some emergency assistance.”

He added residents could call the application line at 766-2100.