Dozens of people have been displaced after an apartment complex was damaged in a fire.
The Canadian Red Cross confirmed that dozens of tenants were displaced after the 40-unit apartment building on Gauvin Road in Dieppe, N.B., was damaged by a fire on Saturday evening.
It may have only taken fire crews about 30 minutes to extinguish but the blaze did a tremendous amount of damage during that time.
A large section of the roof and the top level of the four-storey building were destroyed.
“Upon arrival, firefighters encountered heavy fire conditions in the attic, roof area as well as the fourth floor,” said Marc Cormier, district chief of the Dieppe Fire Department.
“Firefighters remained on scene for a good portion of five hours.”
Andre Duguay, a tenant in the building, said he and his girlfriend were in their living room watching television when the fire alarm went off.
The pair quickly grabbed their cat and their keys.
They made sure people were leaving and helped tenants move vehicles away from the building.
“When we got outside, the fire was already in the balcony of the fourth floor and it wasn’t like that big, maybe 15 feet high. But five minutes later it was pretty much like 30 feet high,” said Duguay.
“It was really overwhelming.”
For Marcos Silab it was an unnerving way to wake up.
“I was in a shocked state for probably a couple hours and then you are thinking about what’s going to happen next, where you’re going to go, is the whole building going to burn, what’s the next steps? And of course, sadly, you start talking to with people and a lot of people don’t have insurance and it’s quite sad,” he told Global News.
The Dieppe Fire Department called in Moncton Fire crews to assist in beating back the blaze while Ambulance New Brunswick was on standby.
RCMP, NB Power and Codiac Transpo also responded to the scene.
Luckily, there were no injuries and fire crews were able to rescue several pets.
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Luke Malenfant came by on Sunday to try to get information for his son who lives in the building but was away for the weekend.
“He’s good, he’s a little concerned about his belongings… He’s got some expensive computer equipment and a couple of guitars that would be hard to replace,” Malenfant said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The Red Cross said in a release that volunteers spent much of the night arranging emergency lodging and food for 53 people.
Additional support is also expected for at least some tenants with purchases of clothing and other essentials.
The agency says a number of other tenants are now staying with relatives or friends.
With files from The Canadian Press
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