Two days after a fire ripped through a senior's complex in Pacquetville, N.B., former residents have returned to salvage their belongings with the smell of smoke still hanging in the air.
“To see what the fire has done to the building and to see all those people without home without anything, it was very heartbreaking,” says building general manager Bruno Holmes.
Four fire departments responded to the fire Saturday afternoon, quickly clearing the building.
“We checked all the rooms and we said, 'Alright, the people are out of the residence,'” says Pacquetville fire chief Denis Paulin.
Tenants were hoping they'd be allowed back home on Monday, but officials say the building will have to undergo extensive repairs before that can happen.
Some units escaped with only smoke damage, but others may be a total loss. While all residents escaped without injury, it's left 12 people in search of housing.
The Canadian Red Cross increased its emergency support on Monday.
“They found them temporary accommodation, and after that they met each person who was in the apartment to give them coupons,” says Holmes.
More concrete plans for the residents will have to wait until the fire marshal completes its investigation and insurance information is received.
In the meantime, the displaced people will try to pick up the pieces.
“It's been a shock to them to lose everything, so it's very disrupting for them,” Holmes says.
Ten of the units in the complex were part of New Brunswick’s affordable housing program. The province says it has been in contact with the people who were displaced and is working with them to find permanent housing as soon as possible.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Cami Kepke.
