Crews are starting the clean-up of a fire that took place at Patricia Plaza in Sioux Lookout over the weekend.
Henry Wall is the CAO of the Kenora District Service Board, the agency that owns the building.
“Our teams along with contractions and the assessors from our insurance are getting a full understanding of the extent of the damage that has happened,” says Wall.
“I think some units will be a lot easier to bring back online and make sure people move back into them. I would say by the end of the week we’ll have a really good idea of the time frame.”
In the meantime, Wall says they are doing their due diligence to make sure the units, that weren’t damaged by the fire, are safe to move back into.
“We want to make sure that from environmental assessment, that units are safe to enter into. So, making sure air quality control tests come back…they are within the limits they should be. We need to make sure the fire panel is replaced. That’s its all functional before anyone move back in.”
He adds they have been able to find accommodation for most of the people impacted by the fire, but people on the housing waiting list will have to wait a little longer for someplace to live.
Wall calls the fire a gut punch and they want to rebuild the units that were impacted by the fire as quickly as possible because Sioux Lookout already has a severe housing shortage.
(Photo provided by Lorraine Miles)
