Two separate apartment fires in just five days have resulted in multiple people being displaced from their homes in Vancouver’s West End.
The fires took place on March 7 and March 11, and Vancouver Fire Rescue Services is still investigating the causes of both.
On March 11, just after 2:39 p.m., a three-alarm fire broke out at a 20-storey seniors supportive housing apartment at 1115 Nelson St. Nicholson Tower has 219 units and was built in 1969.
Vancouver Fire Rescue Services information officer Matthew Trudeau said firefighters had to assist a number of people getting out of the building, specifically those with medical issues and mobility restrictions.
Two units were damaged in the fire and a number of other units were impacted by smoke and water.
Carl Austin lives in the building and was watching TV when the fire started.
“A woman came out of the hallway screaming because she lives [on the 10th floor], direct line of the fire and I could see smoke coming out of her apartment,” he told Glacier Media.
Austin tried to get out of the building but the stairwells were full of smoke and he couldn’t get down.
“We just sheltered inside and the smoke started coming into the apartment and I was hanging my face out the window,” he said.
He remembers hearing a person screaming from the seventh floor where the fire started.
“It was just terrifying,” Austin said. “You don't know what's going on, how you're going to get out. The smoke is coming in. I have trouble breathing but my only concern was, how am I going to get my dog out?”
After an hour of staying inside his unit, three firemen came to help him.
“It’s a big building. There’s 200 people, so it’s a little daunting and they had to get the fire out first.”
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been started for a man who lost all of his belongings in the fire. Amber Harvey said her father-in-law Ed lived in the low-income seniors building.
“The fire broke out while he was out walking his dogs. He came home with the unfortunate circumstance of finding out he lost everything and is now displaced from his home,” wrote Harvey.
Ed, like many people in the building according to Austin, does not have renters' insurance. Many are on a fixed income and cannot afford it, said Austin.
Meanwhile, the support residents have has been getting has been nothing short of amazing, said Austin.
“I have to give credit to Bloom group (The Bloom Group Community Services Society). They’re right on top of it, they’re moving cleaners into every floor,” he said, also thanking Vancouver Fire Rescue Services and emergency support services.
Austin is back in his unit and said the smell can be horrendous at times. However, he and his dog are settling back in. A few people whose units were damaged have not been able to return home, he told Glacier Media.
There are two elevators inside Nicholson Tower but as of Sunday, only one was in operation.
The building does not have any sprinklers above the first floor. In 1990, the City of Vancouver required all new buildings in the city to have sprinklers.
“It’s a concrete building. It’s hard to put a sprinkler system into it now,” said Austin.
A ‘wall full of flames’
Rita Acharyya is now living in a hotel after a March 7 fire in her unit heavily damaged her home.
During an interview with Glacier Media from her hotel room, she recalled returning home to her Cardero Street apartment that day with the goal of trying to relax.
“I was just enjoying the breeze from my window,” she said. "I turned around and then that's when I just saw a wall full of flames.”
Her smoke alarm did not go off and she couldn’t believe what she saw.
“It didn't even seem real. I felt like I was lucid dreaming … this is not possible,” she explained.
She tried to smother the fire with a canvas material and ran to grab the fire extinguisher.
“It was just full of black smoke and I just ran out the back.”
Firefighters responded to the fire and found one person suffering smoke inhalation in the lobby.
Trudeau said the firefighters found heavy black smoke in the unit and extinguished the blaze. The unit sustained major damage.
Acharyya ended up having a few burns on her body but is thankful she was not seriously injured.
Her friend Leslie Cummings also set up a GoFundMe to support her.
“It’s so outstanding. I’m so grateful,” Acharyya said through tears. “For her starting that page for me was so meaningful and to see the names … it’s been so overwhelming, so loving."
She's lived in her West End apartment for roughly 10 years and is not sure when or if she can return home.
“I love the place,” she said, noting she doesn't have insurance. “The neighbours are fantastic. We’re all family there."
