The Salvation Army and BC Housing have worked out a one month contract to provide short-term housing for half of the residents displaced by the fire last month at the former Traveller’s Inn.
30 of the 60 tenants who were displaced from their homes will be staying in The Salvation Army’s Addictions and Rehabilitation Centre until the end of April.
The Salvation Army also says it has opened a second location to further support the residents, but did not reveal the details.
On March 21, around midnight, a fire initially started in a truck parked in a ground-level parking space underneath the back of the building. The blaze quickly spread to surrounding debris, including mattresses. Flames then spread up the carport and into the building destroying several ground-floor units.
Firefighters thought they had extinguished the blaze and allowed tenants to return to their suites. Several hours later, around 7 a.m, the fire reignited itself filling the building with thick black smoke. The fire restarted in the structure in the chimney vents making it a difficult to fight.
Many of the residents had been relying on disability pensions or social assistance, and lacked insurance for lost or damaged contents.
The building has remained closed since. The original cause remains under investigation.
