Tenants affected by a fire that ripped through an apartment building in Lower Sackville, N.S. on the weekend have learned they won’t be allowed to return home anytime soon.

The owner of the building says the section of the complex that was damaged in the fire will have to be rebuilt, which could take eight months.

The fire started after midnight Saturday, leaving more than 30 tenants temporarily homeless.

Tenants say the flames spread quickly through the building.

“I heard somebody pound on my door. I heard the alarms and stuff going off,” says tenant Daniel Parsons.

“I could hear one of my neighbours upstairs in the parking lot screaming for everyone to get out, get out, get out,” says tenant Jessica Lake.

Fire officials say the blaze was intense.

“Sometimes you have the contents on fire, you have a mattress or a couch and that’s extinguished,” says Halifax Regional Deputy Fire Chief Roy Hollett. “In this case, everything was on fire. The room, the building, the roof.”

The 30 tenants affected by the fire are now learning it could be eight months before they are able to return to the building.

“It’s a big question mark at the moment,” says Lake.

“Basically, I’ve got to start all over again, which is going to cost money,” says Parsons. “Money I don’t have.”

The building is owned by Timbercreek. A regional manager says the company is trying to find openings in other buildings to help the residents affected by the fire.

She also says only two of the 24 units are covered by tenant insurance.

“As outlined in our lease agreements, residents are responsible for their own tenant insurance to cover damage to personal items,” says Wendy Adams. “Damage and displacement caused by fire is a primary reason we strongly encourage all our residents to carry appropriate insurance.”

Amidst the bad news, there was also a happy moment today when Alexis Parsons was reunited with her cat, who had been hiding in the building since Saturday.

“I didn’t think she was going to make it,” says Parsons.

Fire officials are still trying to determine what caused the fire. They believe it started in the top floor, but they aren’t certain where.

They expect to have more answers by the end of the week.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell