The cause of a fire that forced 50 people out of their homes is still under investigation.
Residents of a D’Ambrosio Drive apartment complex in Barrie met today to discuss what’s next as investigators still probe the fire that happened Saturday. Residents of the complex spent last night out of their homes as well and it’s unclear when they might be able to return home.
“I am worried,” says Amanda Fell, who lives on first floor. “I would like to go back home. I have a little guy, so just back to routine. It's hard, it's stressful.”
Devyn Samuelsson and Rylee Hart were heading out to a concert when they noticed the fire coming from unit 210 on the second floor of the apartment complex late Saturday night.
“I just saw the flames. I knew 911 had to be called immediately,” says Samuelsson. “It started coming up the window and within a few moments it was already coming out the balcony. There was glass shattering, it was going up the tree...”
Hart ran into the building yelling at everyone to get out and helped Samuelsson’s brother rescue the woman who lived in the unit where the fire started.
“We grabbed her arm we actually finally did get her out of the building and as soon as she stepped out, outside of her door, I guess she had realized she had burnt her arm from trying to put out the fire herself,” says Hart.
The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office finished investigating today, and officials know where the fire started, but haven’t determined the cause. They also say the smoke alarms were working.
“The fire did occur in the master bedroom of the apartment, it did migrate out into the apartment itself, eventually after a short period of time it migrated into the hallway,” says Greg Olson, investigator. “In the debris we did find remnants of a candle holder. There is also the idea of smoking, definitely there's remnants of smoker’s materials in the apartment itself. It's one of two hypotheses we are also looking at.”
Today the property managers held a residents’ meeting. So far no one is allowed back in the building because clean-up crews are still working.
“The smoke damage is the big problem so we want to make sure that we get that cleared away,” says Karen Barker, property manager.
Some residents might be allowed to move back in as early as tomorrow, but people have been allowed to go back and collect some of their things.
Property management plans to have a meeting tomorrow to update the residents. They say they will contact families directly to let them know when they can move back.
The Canadian Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at a nearby church in Innisfil to help those in need last night. And the Salvation Army is offering accommodation at a local hotel.
The fire isn’t being considered suspicious.
