When the fire alarm went off at 148 Wyndham St. N on a late Sunday night in March, Natasha Cleven, her boyfriend Kyle Sholdice and her roommate Sarah McEachern didn’t think much of it, even when they saw smoke wafting in the hallway.
It was a regular occurrence, and as they grabbed only their shoes and coats to wait outside, they assumed they would be allowed back in shortly.
But that never happened. Instead, a city bus was parked outside to keep tenants warm. Later, the 30 tenants were moved to a hotel and given food and clothing vouchers.
More than two weeks later, tenants are still without their belongings, posted in hotel rooms and unsure of what will happen next. And they’re not happy about it.
“The county was really good to us; they made sure that we weren't homeless, they put us up in a hotel and helped us out with clothes and stuff,” Cleven said. “Then (the police) asked us for a list of our belongings, so we gave them that. And that was the last we heard about it.”
The landlord says the property is now in the hands of the insurance company and for safety reasons people aren't allowed back on site.
The night of the fire, Cleven said they were told the firefighters could go back in to retrieve any important belongings. Some people cited laptops or ID cards, which they were mostly able to grab.
“And then the next thing we knew, they said the building had been deemed not structurally sound,” she said.
The back of the building, which consisted of four apartments – including Cleven’s – was demolished.
“We didn’t even know they had demolished the back half of the building until after it was done.”
A few days after the fire, she said tenants were asked for a list of their belongings “and said that we would at some point be able to try to retrieve some items. But that never happened.”
Cleven, Sholdice, McEachern and several other tenants stood outside the fenced-off building Monday morning, watching construction workers go through the rubble, tossing their belongings into bins they assume were destined for the dump.
The man who lived in the unit below theirs was beside himself, Cleven said, shouting that the government, or somebody, should do something.
Sholdice said they were under the impression landlord Gary Grewal had asked the workers to put items that were intact aside, but they didn't see that happen.
Cleven initially contacted Victim Services for help. They pointed her to Grewal, who when contacted by GuelphToday said it’s out of his hands since the insurance company took over the investigation and demolition.
Grewal told GuelphToday he’s not allowed to go back to the site right now for safety concerns, and that he doesn’t want anyone else going there either.
“The apartments didn’t burn, and you can tell there’s no smoke damage in those apartments. So where’s everything that was inside?” Cleven asked.
“Because our apartment got torn down, it’s no longer our stuff? It seems like we’re not entitled to our own property,” Sholdice said.
Later that day, McEachern returned and said she saw workers rifling through her backpack. While she was able to get it back, it raised further questions as to how things are being handled. So far, that’s the only item they’ve had returned.
“We all expected to be able to go back and get whatever items were salvageable,” Cleven said. “But that never happened.”
She said they feel like they have nowhere to turn.
“Nobody’s doing anything to try and even explain to us what the process has been, and what we can do to try and recover some stuff. We’re totally in the dark,” she said.
While they expect many of the items likely aren’t salvageable, there were expensive items, like a brand new Xbox, that they had hoped they could get back for warranty purposes.
“We need the items that we can find to be able to even get them replaced through the warranties,” she said.
As far as she knows, most people living in the building, including herself and Sarah, didn’t have tenant insurance. Without it, they have little means of getting belongings replaced or getting reimbursed for the loss.
Grewal said the insurance company is doing an investigation to make sure the rest of the building is safe, at which time the people who were living in those units can return to collect their belongings, he said, adding that he plans to contact them to see if people can go back soon.
However, he said the building will need extensive renovations before it will be deemed structurally safe, and isn’t sure how long that will take, but said it sounds like it may not be up to date “for a long time.”
Until he hears from the insurance company, he said his hands are tied.
Grewal said he is planning on giving tenants back their deposit and March rent to help them “get back on their feet.”
“We all feel like there’s no recourse. I feel even worse for the people that don’t speak English, because they’re not able to figure out what’s going on,” she said. “I can only imagine what they’re going through.”
She said it feels like they’ve been given false hope.
“We’re not getting anything back by the looks of it,” Sholdice said.
