Emergency support has run out for families displaced by a Burnaby apartment fire earlier this month, so they are turning to crowdsourcing to get through the holidays.
Fire broke out in a first-floor suite at Evergreen Place at 6920 Gilley Avenue at about 7:45 p.m. on Dec. 3, according to the Burnaby Fire Department.
The suite was totally destroyed, and adjacent units also sustained smoke and fire damage, the fire department said.
To make matters worse, the fire exposed asbestos in the building's walls.
“There was heavy smoke damage and when officials had to bust down one of the walls in a neighbouring unit, they found asbestos inside the walls,” states a GoFundMe page set up by Stacey Humphrey, a sister of one of the tenants, Samantha Humphrey, and her fiancé Jordan. “Due to that discovery, the tenants in that wing of the complex are now unable to return home. They have been instructed to remove their personal belongings that are salvageable and now they have to find a new place to rent.”
GoFundMe campaigns have also been launched for a mother of three who has lived in the building for 12 years and a one-income family of four with a special needs son.
Branko, a building manager who did not want his last name published, confirmed asbestos had been found in the building.
“Restoration needs to be done completely, so it’s going to take a while,” he said.
He said the renovations are expected to take three months, and tenants would have the option of moving back in after they’re complete.
“That would be optional for them,” he said.
An insurance adjuster who spoke to the NOW said eight units on the main floor are currently involved.
“We’re still in the very preliminary stages of trying to deal with it,” she said. “They have to take down all the walls to figure out the exact extent of the damage.”
The City of Burnaby emergency support services team, which administers the provincial program, provided emergency support to eight families, but that support has now run out.
“The intent of the program is to support the immediate and most necessary needs of those individuals that have been displaced by an emergency or an evacuation,” said Charmaigne Pflugrath, the city’s emergency management coordinator.
Once the 72 hours of emergency support expires, extensions can be granted on a cases-by-case basis, but those requests have to be approved by Emergency Management B.C., according to Pflugrath.
Before the emergency help expires, however, she said the city does its best to connect displaced residents with other social services groups in the city.
“We try to engage those community partners to provide whatever support they can,” she said. “We make every effort to encourage the evacuated individuals to be self-sufficient, so that they can go to friends and family and get the social supports as well as the emotional support that they might need during their period of recovery.”
There have been three fires at rental apartment buildings in Burnaby since August.
“Given the situation that we have with almost no housing stock vacant, any fire, be it an individual single-family dwelling or an apartment fire, strains all resources,” Pflugrath said.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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