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Cause of deadly Collingwood apartment fire under investigation

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Collingwood, Ont. -

Investigators are trying to determine what caused a deadly fire at a Collingwood apartment building that claimed at least one life and left dozens of residents wondering what to do next.

Douglas Stevenson has lived in the building on Tenth Street for 22 years.

He returned to the building a day after firefighters told him to evacuate his home overnight on Monday.

"I was still up at 1 a.m. That's when the alarm went off, and I thought it was probably a false alarm," Stevenson says he went to bed only to be woken up by firefighters.

"One of them said, 'There's a fire in this building. You have to get out,'" he recalls.

Related Article: One person is dead, an entire building displaced in Collingwood Ont. apartment fire

Police say one woman died, although it's unclear if she lived in the second-floor apartment where the fire started.

"It is sad for the community and for the residents in the building who lost somebody because they are a family when they live together like that," says Collingwood Fire Chief Ross Parr.

The fire chief adds that the 52 residents displaced by the fire won't be able to return to their homes until the investigation is completed.

Officials say most of the building's residents are seniors.

Stevenson, and 25 other households, are receiving help from The Red Cross, including providing registration, personal hygiene items, meals, clothing and lodging.

But residents say the temporary assistance is about to run out.

"Many of us are looking forward to getting back home again, and we would like to get some concrete information as to when that's going to happen," Stevenson says.

This afternoon, the property owner sent a statement to CTV News, saying in part, "We are in the process of reaching out to the families of the victims and all our residents to offer them additional support as they deal with this terrible loss.

This includes ensuring residents have access to temporary shelter and any critical items in their homes, as well as financial support," states Mark Hales, SVP-Construction & Property Standards.

The Red Cross says it plans to continue to work in support of the Town of Collingwood, but residents want more solid answers.

The town has not responded to CTV News' request for more information.

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