Many residents displaced by a fire in an Overbrook apartment building are still looking for permanent housing three weeks later.
The fire engulfed the building at 240 Presland Road on Feb. 21. Fifty-three people who lived in the four-storey affordable housing building were displaced. The building has since been deemed unsafe.
Fire Services battle the three-alarm blaze at the apartment building on Presland Road in Ottawa on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023.
A 31-year-old woman has been charged with attempted murder and arson in relation to the fire.
Steven Strong lived on the second floor. He and his family have been living in a hotel for three weeks, and this weekend got keys to a new unit.
“There is a big waiting list for housing in Ottawa.” Strong said. “We got the keys (to a new place) and we are moving stuff, we are still in a hotel transitioning to our new place.”
But he says rebuilding his new life has been difficult because he lost everything in the fire. He says a friend donated a mattress for his kids, but he is still missing some basic furniture such as bed frames.
"(The mattresses) can go on the floor for now - it is temporary and some clothes for the kids. …We have some basics, but we will need to do some shopping, and gets some pots and pans for the kitchen.”
His neighbour Mitchell Goldenberg is still searching for a new place and has no idea where he will call home next. He is currently in a west-end hotel.
Residents who were displaced by a fire at a building in Overbrook say finding new affordable housing has been difficult. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)
“Wednesday I have to check out, and as of now, I have no place to go to.” Goldenberg said.
He can't afford to stay in a hotel anymore because the $4,000 he got from the insurance company for lodging has run out.
“It hasn’t hit me yet. Ussually when things like this, I cry. Right now- it is about to come out. But it hasn’t hit me, so I am doing what I can.”
John Adams says it has been a struggle to live for more than three weeks in a hotel because there is no kitchen for cooking, and bring his wife to medical appointments has been challenging.
“We are forgotten… they put us in a hotel with nothing. We don’t even have a stove to cook.”
Residents also say navigating insurance has been hard, mostly because insurance papers and identifications are all left in the building.
Goldenberg says he hasn’t been able to get a property damage assessment because no one can get inside the building.
The city of Ottawa has issued an “Order to Remedy an Unsafe Building” notice for the building.
The order says a structural engineer must provide a report on how the buildings unsafe condition will be remedied. The structural engineer must also obtain a building permit, or a demolition permit for all remediation work.
Pamela Shillingford, 31, has been charged with arson to property, arson endangering life and attempted murder in relation to the fire.
The Ottawa police arson unit and the Ontario Fire Marshal's office are investigating the blaze.
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