Local, provincial, and federal agencies are working together to locate permanent housing for dozens of Syrian refugees who were left homeless after a fire gutted an apartment building in Coquitlam earlier this week.
According to the provincial government, 10 families of Syrian refugees have already been provided with temporary housing, clothing, prescriptions, and other essentials, and are expected to be placed in permanent housing in the coming weeks.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Immigrant Settlement Services of BC (ISSofBC), Emergency Management BC, Emergency Social Services in the Tri-Cities, the Red Cross, Concert Properties, BC Housing, and the Fraser Health Authority have all been involved in the effort so far.
The families lost their homes on Cottonwood Avenue in a fire Thursday morning.
The three-storey building, which does not have sprinklers, was undergoing repairs and the water was turned off. The tar roof trapped the flames and heat, making it a challenge for crews to put out the blaze.
The building’s landlord offered the apartments for the Syrian refugees below market rent for the short term, because there are so few available rentals in the area.
Most of the refugee families living in the building came to Canada from Aleppo, Syria, arriving in the fall of last year.
The province said translators have been available to ensure the families’ needs are taken care of in the aftermath of the blaze.
One of the refugees affected - Mohammed Meimeh - came to Canada with his wife and four-year-old child from Damascus, Syria, in December of last year. He told CTV News after the blaze that the manager of his building knocked on his door telling him to get out.
“Now we search for new home, and return to our lives. That's ok,” he said.
After the fire, Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart called the situation heartbreaking, as the families were faced with the shock of another devastating loss.
“How could this happen again? Most of these people have been through hell,” Stewart said.
