‘No alarms went off’
Tenant fled burning building but feels blessed at offers of help; Fredericton fire chief says investigation into blaze continues but that police haven’t been brought in thus far
Jolleen Yeo was home at her first-floor apartment at 100 Clark St. on Thursday afternoon and was about to get in the shower when something distracted her.
“I heard a bang. It sounded like a gunshot to me,” she said Friday.
She initially paid it no mind but then saw a woman pull up in front of the building and park oddly, only to jump out of her vehicle and run past the building.
“She said, ‘Get out! Your home is on fire!’” Yeo said.
A fire had broken out on the upper level of the apartment building, burning quickly and sending flames and smoke up that could be seen from the south side of the St. John River.
The 44-unit building burned for hours. While no injuries were reported, all tenants were forced from their homes, with no timeline on their return.
“No alarms went off,” Yeo said, noting the building is outfitted with a sprinkler system, but she saw no signs that it was activated either.
Red Cross, landlord ready to help
The New Brunswick branch of the Canadian Red Cross was on site Thursday to aid displaced residents.
It estimated the total number of affected tenants at 110.
“Canadian Red Cross volunteers arranged emergency hotel lodging and meals for 20 tenants from 11 apartments, and financial aid for purchases of clothing and other essential needs for three people so far,” the Canadian Red Cross said in a news release Friday.
“That number is expected to grow as additional Red Cross support is arranged later today (Friday) with tenants who at the time were unsure if they’d be able to access their apartments to retrieve clothing and other personal items.”
More than 70 residents from the building were able to find temporary places to stay on their own, the organization said, either with family or friends, or at hotels they booked themselves or arranged through their insurance providers.
Yeo, her partner and her 20-year-old daughter Kristina were among those who received help from the Canadian Red Cross.
She said they put them up in a hotel room, and their stay will last until Sunday.
“Outside that, we’re looking for a new apartment,” Yeo said.
The rental market in Fredericton is tight, Yeo said, and a search for listings last night reinforced that for her.
“There’s really nothing out there,” she said. “It’s not getting any easier.”
Richard Michaud - property manager with Bella Properties, the owner of the building - said the company is working to ensure all tenants land on their feet.
“We have a new building that’s opening,” he told the Fredericton Independent on Friday.
Even more encouraging has been the response from other rental-property companies, Michaud said, noting he’d received calls from five or six of them letting him know of vacancies they have available to rehouse the displaced tenants.
Michaud said Bella is also in constant contact with its insurer, and the property-rental company is striving to ensure their clients have what they need.
He said he was on site until 11 p.m. Thursday, and he met with tenants across the street at the Jean Coutu pharmacy to ensure they got replacements for any important prescriptions.
It’s too soon to say if the apartment building can be salvaged, Michaud said, as he has to wait for word from the fire marshal’s office about the state of the burned premises.
Cause being investigated
Fredericton fire Chief Dwayne Killingbeck met with reporters at the scene of the burned building Friday afternoon, and he also noted it’s too soon to say what caused the fire or what can be done with the structure.
He said the call came in at 3:31 p.m. Thursday and the fire department had its initial personnel on the scene at 3:34 p.m.
The fire broke out on the upper level of the building, Killingbeck said, and that brings added challenges when it comes to knocking down such a blaze.
“It went immediately into the roof area,” he said. “It was immediately into the attic.”
Such open spaces in structures burn much more quickly, the chief said, and it makes it so firefighters can’t get inside a structure to deal with the flames.
“A lot of times, the roof shields the space from getting hit with the water,” he said.
Fire investigators began their examination of the site Friday morning and were continuing with the investigation throughout the day, Killingbeck said, noting he was hopeful they’d be making their determination by the end of the day Friday.
As of Friday afternoon, he said, the Fredericton Police Force hasn’t been brought in to assist with the investigation.
The chief said the initial response from the Fredericton Fire Department was 18 firefighters with five vehicles, but that grew to an even more fulsome response shortly thereafter.
Within minutes of arriving on the scene, he said, it was determined more assistance was needed, with more Fredericton firefighters being dispatched and a request was made for backup from the Oromocto Fire Department.
Oromocto sent about a dozen people, Killingbeck said, and all told, there were 50 firefighters on the scene.
The chief said he couldn’t comment on any lack of alarms going off or about the sprinkler system and whether it kicked in, noting it’s too early in the process. It’s also too soon to talk about whether the structure was in compliance with building and fire codes, he said.
The fire was brought under control around 6 p.m. Thursday, he said, but some hotspots and hidden fires kept firefighters busy through the night. The blaze was deemed to be completely extinguished shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday, he said.
Michaud confirmed the apartment building was a new one, having just opened three years ago.
He said it’s not believed any pets were harmed or lost in the fire because 100 Clark St. was a pet-free building.
A message in the aftermath
Yeo told reporters Friday it’s a difficult situation. Her family was doubly hit by the fire, as one of her daughters was renting a unit at the rear of the building.
“I’m holding back tears,” she said.
However, she takes comfort in the fact no one was hurt and feels encouraged by the help offered by so many friends and family members.
Yeo had tenant’s insurance, she said, and she’s already been in touch with her insurer.
“My insurance adjuster has been amazing,” she said.
Yeo is a woman of faith, she said, and attends church faithfully. That’s why a discovery she and her daughter made at the rear of the building felt like a message that things would be all right.
Yeo held charred pages on which scripture passages were printed. They were pages from a Bible, mostly intact, that she just found on the ground near the building.
“We’re blessed, regardless,” Yeo said.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
Thank you so much for writing this