Temporary accommodation secured for families displaced by Vancouver fire

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The City of Vancouver has been able to find temporary housing for many of those forced out of their homes by a massive apartment fire in south Vancouver.

According to Emergency Social Services coordinator Jackie Kloosterboer, of the nearly 50 people displaced, 17 of them are now being put up in hotel rooms.

“We have nine families that we were working with, and we were able to get all of them hotels,” she told NEWS 1130. “The other folks all had insurance or were staying with friends and family and were able to look after themselves.”

The fire at 72nd and Cartier Saturday afternoon completely gutted the four-storey apartment building.

The families will now have to work with restoration companies to determine how long they’ll be out of their homes.

“We will work with them while they’re going through this and help support them the best that we can,” Kloosterboer explained.

She noted the COVID-19 pandemic has forced emergency services to slightly adjust the way it operates.

“I’ve got a team of volunteers that do a lot of this work, so we meet up with them every day and right now we’re doing a lot over the phone because of the COVID. But we are in touch with them and help get them through,” Kloosterboer said. “We’ve got agreements with a lot of the local hotels in Vancouver and it’s just simply a call. They’re familiar with who we are and what we do and they’re more than happy to support.”

No one was hurt in the fire, and the cause is still under investigation.

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