It’s been seven months since a massive fire destroyed a Penticton, B.C., heritage home, and the charred remains have yet to be cleaned up.
The owners of the home were given a deadline to clean up the property, but the deadline has passed, and the city will now step in.
“The City of Penticton is now in the process of issuing a tender request for the work to be done,” said the City of Penticton in an email to Global News.
“The cost will be recovered from the property owner.”
City council ordered the owners to remove all debris and hazardous material, level the site, and make it safe by mid-July.
They were awarded an extension but couldn’t meet the later deadline.
Global News spoke with Blake Laven, director of Development Services with the City of Penticton, in June regarding the delay.
“The thoughts of the owners are certainly top of mind they’re going through a really difficult time losing their structure,” said Laven in June.
“We understand that they are having challenges getting their insurance company to help with the cleanup, and that’s left it in the state that it’s been in since March.”
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City staff had deemed the house “unsightly, untidy, and offensive” and as a result had been declared a “nuisance that requires remedial action.”
The decision was fuelled by several complaints from neighbours about the debris.
“What precipitated us going to council to request the remedial action order was mostly complaints from the public and from the neighbours that are dealing with a very unsightly property next to them,” said Laven in June.
The Warren House, which was operating as a bed and breakfast, was built in 1912 along Penticton’s iconic Lakeshore Drive. The Warren House was one of two CPR buildings still standing in the community.
In early March, witnesses said they heard an explosion before the home burst into flames. The cause of the fire is believed to be a gas explosion.
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