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Fire Chief’s worst nightmare turned out to be a miracle

Jul 12, 2017 | 7:04 PM

LETHBRIDGE –  The smoke has cleared, but a damage estimate can’t be determined in Tuesday’s west side senior complex fire, until an engineering report is completed, which will indicate how much of the building can be salvaged.

A total of 35 firefighters from four stations were called to the large-scale event at the Gardens’ at West Highlands retirement home around 3:00-pm. They were confronted by smoke pouring from the roof and flames climbing above that.

 Fire Chief Rich Hildebrandt commends the efforts of staff and others who stepped forward to help with the rescue, which prevented the outcome from being much worse.

“Before we left, we knew there were 137 residents in the building, and all were present and accounted for, and not a single injury, which is, in this sort of event, an absolute blessing.”

At this point, the cause hasn’t been identified but investigators do know that the fire started on a third-floor balcony.

Hildebrandt says the investigation is hampered by the amount of destruction and the fact that fire-fighting activity can destroy a lot of evidence, which makes it difficult to pinpoint the exact cause.

About three units were directly involved in the fire, however, other factors resulted in more than fire damage.

“We used a great deal of water to extinguish it, and wanted to stop that as soon as possible – the wind direction wasn’t working in our favour at the time and it was blowing the fire back in towards the building, so we had to use very aggressive efforts to restrict that fire to the point at which we found it.”

Hildebrandt says they were able to stop the spread of the fire in good time, “But when you do that, the water damage is extensive as well, so what you can see now is that entire wing of the building has been permeated with some water.”

“This sort of fire is a fire chief’s and a firefighter’s worst nightmare – there are just so many things that can go horribly wrong and it was nothing short of a miracle that there wasn’t a single person hurt in this fire, as we’ve got a population that has some mobility challenges and medical challenges, and with all that in place, the staff of that facility and the people who rushed to their aid, and our firefighters and police were able to get all of those people out of that building without a single injury.”

The fire chief also credited extensive engineered and regulated fire safety structural requirements which worked in this case, “As you can see that there was a fire stop in place and it greatly reduced the extent of the fire, as well as the extent of smoke, and there were sprinklers in place, as well, the staff relied on previously laid out evacuation plans.”

The Fire Chief is also very grateful for the help of the community…

We had over 100 people to deal with immediately and the Red Cross was a huge benefit and we are so grateful for their efforts in responding quickly – within an hour we had a registration centre open and operating, and they are continuing to ensure everyone is taken care of.”

Mike Lavallee, CEO of Seasons Retirement Communities also commended all those who came to the assistance of the Gardens’ residents.

He says they have a plan to help residents but it’s all predicated on how safe the building is, and given how much water was dumped on the building, they want to make sure structural loads were maintained.

“We’re going to have a staged approach, where over the next 12 to 24 hours people are going to be able to go into their suites, take what is really immediately important for them – that may include the car that’s in the garage downstairs – and from there, we’ll continue to work with everyone to talk about occupancy and when that might take place.”

Lavallee says it will all come down to restoration, remediation and environmental safety.

Some of the residents have been set up at another Seasons Retirement complex, others are staying with family and a couple of hotels are lodging some of the residents.  While they are working as quickly as possible to ensure more permanent accommodations, Lavallee was unable to give a timeline for remediation of the building and said there would be no timeline until engineering reports were complete.

Lavallee echoed the sentiments of the Fire Chief that it is uncommon to have a positive outcome from a devastating event. When asked if other help was needed from the community, he said that given the fact that most residents would be allowed back into their condos, they will not require clothing or household items as they will be able to take care of the residents’ daily needs over the next 12 to 24 hours. He says if that message changes they will let the community know. 

Lavallee noted the company and the building is well insured and they are covered for taking care of residents.  He says they also have counsellors on call for staff and residents.