An apartment fire in the early-morning hours on Saturday has left 50 people without homes. Crews from five regional fire departments, as well as RCMP, EMTs and Victim Services officials responded to the call at about 12:30 am.
An apartment fire in the early-morning hours on Saturday has left 50 people without homes.
Crews from five regional fire departments, as well as RCMP, EMTs and Victim Services officials responded to the call at about 12:30 am.
Firefighters battled the blaze throughout the morning and managed to stop flames from spreading to the whole building, but several units were completely destroyed by the fire. Many others are expected to be damaged beyond salvaging by water and smoke damage. One firefighter sustained minor injuries when a piece of drywall fell and struck him. He was treated in an on-scene ambulance, taken to hospital and later released.
No residents were injured in the fire.
Officials from the local Victim Services unit were also set up in the neighbouring Parkland Motel, coordinating with Red Cross officials and local business owners to set up temporary accommodations and acquire basic supplies for many of the residents who were forced into the street with little more than the clothes they were wearing.
The Red Cross assistance covered the first 72 hours for the fire victims, and since then, the community has rallied behind the cause. Along with the assistance of funding for additional temporary accommodation from Alberta Works, Lakeview Manor landlords Brandon and Gerry Cloutier put residents in contact with other local landlords to speed up the process of finding new homes.
In a Saturday afternoon debriefing with the displaced residents, Mayor Omer Moghrabi said the county will ensure they aren’ t left out in the cold if relief runs out.
“These are our residents. We’ re not about to walk away,” he said.
In a later interview, Moghrabi said the county is looking at several options for helping the victims.
“We’ ll probably supplement anything that can be done by donations through Red Cross or Victim Services,” he said. “We’ ll be open to basically anything to help, because people have lost a lot... The county is definitely going to be looking at it very closely.”
John Kokotilo, the manager of Lac La Biche Regional Fire Services, said damage to the building is estimated at $1.25 million, adding a cigarette butt placed in a plastic container with peat moss caused the fire. He added the building was saved because the fire department had the right equipment for the job.
“If we hadn’ t have had the ladder truck, we probably would have lost the building,” he said. “We had a great interior attack by the crews to stop it where it was. The crews did amazing, from all five districts.”
Several local organizations and companies are undertaking fundraising efforts to support the victims of the fire while they transition into new homes. Moghrabi said the community is doing a good job coming together to support its own in their time of need.
“It’ s been really good,” he said. “You’ ll find that quite a few community people will step forward.”
The POST later received a statement from the Cloutier family, thanking the various community groups and members who have already stepped forward.
"This is our family business and we are heartbroken with the loss of homes for these families," they said. "We are so grateful for the people of Lac La Biche and their generosity in this time of great need. Your kindness and support in this difficult time is what's getting us through it."
