Dozens of Syrian refugees are homeless after a fire gutted an apartment building in Coquitlam Thursday morning.

Coquitlam fire crews responded to the three-alarm fire on Cottonwood Avenue just after 10:30 a.m. Burnaby fire crews were called in for back up since there were two other blazes going on in Coquitlam at the same time.

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.

Mohammed Meimeh came to Canada with his wife and four-year-old child from Damascus, Syria in December 2015. He told CTV News 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.

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.

Abdulrahman Siad, a refugee also from Allepo who lives near the burned building, said despite the devastating loss it does not compare with the horror in their home country.

“We not expect that. But not like what we see in Syria,” he said.

The families are receiving aid from the city of Coquitlam and an emergency shelter has been opened. They will be put up in a hotel until they can find new homes. The Coquitlam Foundation has set up an account for donations to support the families. Donors can click on the “Donate Now” button in the lower right section of the page select the “Community Fund” in the drop down box and reference “Cottonwood Fire” in the message section.

The extent of the damage is not yet known and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Tom Popyk