The community continues to reach out to victims of a recent apartment fire in the Brow of the Hill neighbourhood.
St. Barnabas Church held a rummage sale on Saturday to sell off excess donations that had been contributed to help victims of the Ash Street fire. Fire tore through the apartment on Jan. 31, destroying the building and the contents inside.
“If there are any fire victims that haven’t communicated with St. Barnabas or the Salvation Army, we are hoping they will do that,” said The Reverend Emilie Smith of St. Barnabas Church. “The hardest thing has been getting an accurate (tenant) list. We are waiting for them to find us.”
Smith said the 23 people who have been in touch with the churches have been “gracious” and appreciative of the community response.
“It was marvelous,” Smith said about the Feb. 22 sale. “The grand total was $929. I’m delighted.”
The community contributed so many donations to fire victims that St. Barnabas’s hall could not be used for regular programming. In addition to selling items to raise money for the fire relief funds, some items were donated to other charities in New Westminster.
Although a fund has been set up to assist fire victims, organizers have yet to finalize the way the funds will be distributed.
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr has been working with Smith to organize the fire relief fund. He didn’t want to comment on the specific amount of money that has been raised for fire victims.
“It was overwhelming and extremely generous,” he said. “There are still some really important needs out there. People lost dental work and eyeglasses – that is going to be a tremendous cost.”
Puchmayr said other groups involved in the response effort are ensuring that government contributions are searched out before any of the community funds are dispersed. In addition, volunteers are working with a local grocer on the possibility of matching funds to be used for food purposes.
Community members aren’t the only ones who pledged assistance to help fire victims. Reliance Insurance Agencies Ltd. and Intact Insurance Company, the insurance providers for the apartment building, each donated $5,000 to a fund in support of the fire victims.
According to a press release, none of the 36 people living in 31 suites had tenant insurance covering their personal belongings. The owner of the building, a 77-year-old widow, had insurance with Reliance Insurance for 25 years, with full up-to-date coverage.
“She had a very special relationship with the building and the tenants after owning the building for 38 years,” said Jim Ball of Reliance Insurance. “She spent every day there and knew all of her tenants.”
In addition to making a donation to the victims’ assistance fund, Intact Insurance, through Reliance plans to offer free tenant insurance for one year to tenants who elect to move back into the building when it’s rebuilt. They noted that the majority of renters don’t have tenants insurance.
“The main reason for this is that nobody required them to,” Ball said. “If you buy a house or condominium, the lenders insist you have insurance. Most landlords do not make having insurance a requirement.”
Ball said many tenants believe that the landlord’s insurance will cover their belongings, which isn’t the case.
“You can’t insure something you don’t own,” he said in a news release. “Many lessons can be learned form a total loss fire.”
