Residents displaced by apartment fire to be housed by June: Barrie Housing

A devastating fire destroyed the homes of more than 70 people in Barrie’s Allandale neighbourhood last month.

Due to the severe damage caused by the fire, the 25-unit apartment building was deemed uninhabitable. Officials estimated the damage was so extensive it would be at least a full year before tenants could return.

Several residents who were left homeless took shelter at Barrie’s Holiday Inn hotel, while others stayed with friends and family.

Now, just over a month later, the final residents are getting ready to move into new affordable housing options.

Executive director at Barrie Housing, Erika Erteki, says 100 per cent of the residents displaced by the fire will be re-homed by June 6.

“Eight families have been re-homed, one resident has permanently moved out, she’s chosen to go live with family and has given up her lease. The remainder all have units that have been allocated to them, it’s just a matter of timing,” she said.

Erteki says one family is scheduled to move out of the hotel next week. The following week, two more households will move to their new homes.

“Those are the final two, and that’s because we have two vacancies that will be coming up May 31, and it will take us about five days to get the units ready.”

The fire destroyed 25 affordable units, adding further to the housing crisis in the city. This raised concerns as to how the residents would be accommodated.  However, Erteki says all of the displaced families were successfully re-homed into new affordable options.

“A percentage of the families are moving into units within our own portfolio, and then we have some that have moved with Simcoe County, and then others are moving into units with private landlords but they will be moving in with the rent supplement,” she said. “Nobody is going to be paying more than what they were paying before.”