A retirement home in Kingston’s west end is now temporarily closed. The owner was forced to shut its doors over fire safety concerns. Over the holiday weekend, Kingston Fire and Rescue ordered the residents of Fairfield Manor retirement residence, a privately-owned facility, to vacate all remaining vulnerable occupants.
Nearly 20 residents were vacated from the property. According to Deputy Fire Chief, Kevin Donaldson, the owner failed to comply with fire safety regulations.
“Kingston Fire Rescue was no longer confident that the owner was able to supply enough trained supervisory staff to ensure the safety of the occupants.”
The drastic move displaced a number of residents on very short notice, including 82-year-old Lydia Schmidt. Her daughter Heidi Schmidt says the order was devastating to the residents.
“Monday was the big move-out day, and it was complete chaos, it was heartbreaking, people were in tears,” Schmidt said.
Her mother who has dementia, has been in the home since November. She is now staying with her until an alternative option is found. Schmidt says after a short time there, they started noticing some issues.
“Mom was complaining that a lot of the meals were not as plentiful, as well as other residents,” Schmidt said.
“We suspected there was something brewing. Staff were leaving again. There were a lot of new faces.”
Those staffing issues are alleged to be due to the non-payment of employees, causing at least three workers to quit. After Global News reported the alleged problems about Fairfield Manor East, Schmidt says she knew something wasn’t right.
“Since that time, we’ve been waiting with baited breath to see what would happen with this home.”
WATCH: A Kingston retirement home owner is facing more allegations of issues with staffing
The provincially-run South East Local Health Integration Network helped successfully relocate all of the residents affected by the order. Schmidt tells Global News, she can’t believe the situation could get this out of hand.
“This is the most appalling way to treat our most vulnerable citizens.”
It’s been two months since the owner Muhammad Qazi was given notice by the Retirement Home Regulatory Authority that his licence was being revoked at his east location, effective October 31st. Now, Kingston Fire and Rescue and LHIN says they are monitoring the situation there as well. In a statement from the acting CEO of the South East LHIN, Cynthia Martineau says they are aware of the situation at Fairfield Manor East.
“We’ve been made aware of the staffing shortages and home and community care staff members are assessing the needs of residents on a daily basis, as we ensure appropriate care is in place.”
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Global News has made repeated attempts to reach Qazi, the owner. He has denied interview requests and maintains his innocence in the numerous allegations against him.
As of Tuesday, it wasn’t clear when Fairfield Manor West may reopen, but officials with Kingston Fire and Rescue said they are working with the owner to try and find a solution.
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