'Survival mode' for residents of Fredericton apartment fire

Simran Sehgal is still picking up the pieces after last week's apartment fire put her, and more than a hundred others, out on the street.

Everything in Sehgal's top floor apartment was lost.

"Whatever we were wearing, that's all that we have, we need clothes, we need a place to stay, lets just figure this out,” said Sehgal.

The cause of that fire is still unknown and is still under investigation according to Fredericton's Fire Chief.

A local church located just behind the apartment building has become a hub for the community to come together and support.

"The first day or so when people were in shock it was hard for them to pick stuff because they were kind of just overwhelmed,” said Barb Gallant, a volunteer with Christ Central Church.

“They just needed to kind of process what happened,” Gallant said.

What happened is still the question, as there's no official update on what caused the fire at 100 Clark Street last Thursday.

"The engineer went in yesterday and it is safe to enter certain floors,” said Rick Michaud, Bella Properties building manager.

“We are waiting for the fire inspection report back from the city which can take up to 30 days," Michaud said.

Whether the property can be repaired, or demolished to rebuild is still awaiting inspections and insurance reports.

Eleven apartments which sustained fire damage are a complete loss. The remainder of the 44 unit building has extensive smoke and water damage, leaving many of the 110 residents starting from scratch.

"Just survival mode is on right now,” Sehgal said.

A total 14 cars were removed from the building's underground parking on Wednesday with seemingly no damage, according to Michaud.

Residents have not been allowed back inside the building to see if they can collect any of their belongings from the first three floors. The fourth floor was completely destroyed by the fire.

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