Tenants of 70 apartment units must move : boxes, elbow grease needed

Some tenants from the Domaine des Erables apartments on Maple Blvd. in Chateauguay set foot back into their homes for the first time last Thursday since the major fire that razed the building last March 24. But they didn't return in order to live there. The 74-odd apartments at 131 Maple Blvd. must be emptied. All their occupants must move. It's a big challenge, says Nathalie Labbe, manager of the residential complex.

The majority of the occupants are senior citizens. Of 68 such tenants, 22 did not have insurance, informed Labbe, who agreed to accord an interview with Le Soleil on the day the building was reopened to the residents.

« There are some who really lost everything, » Labbe explained. « And there are some who could use some elbow grease. And cardboard boxes too, » she emphasized.

« We are not able to get any boxes. The stores don't have any. They put them all into recycling. If people want to give some, we will go and get them, » said Johanne Fortin, who came to lend a hand.

With former Chateauguay resident Rob Brewster, now living in Ottawa, she takes care of a Facebook page created to inform the fire victims and support them. « This is not evident because they are scattered everywhere and we don't know where they are. And, at 92 years old, they are not on Facebook, » Fortin observed. She does not have any family members in the building but she says she is sensitive to the fate of senior citizens. « This is my city, » she said.

Coordinating moves

To avoid that the occupants of 70 dwellings all find themselves in the lobby and on the stairs at the same time with their furniture, Labbe is inviting the tenants to contact her to organize a moving schedule.

For the moment, there is no deadline to empty the apartments, nor for things returning to normal. That's because the nature of the work to be done remains to be specified, the manager informs.

Enormous task

One thing sure, the work will be significant and affects all the apartments. That is because all the tenants must empty their apartments even if they foresee returning to live in the building. « There are walls to replace. We are going to have to demolish them. All the apartments will be painted. We want to do our work well, » Labbe explained.

Building secured

The administration did not let the tenants of 131 Maple Blvd. return home before May 5 because it had to secure the building beforehand. « A support beam was at risk of crumbling after the fire. Even the corridor was at risk, » Labbe said. The required repairs were made. The walls of the corridors were recovered with plastic and the carpeting was pulled off the floors and replaced with cardboard.

Refrigerators to rubbish

With the electricity having been cut off following the fire, refrigerators and freezers were wrapped up and taken out of the building. « That was a few days before Easter, and the people were looking forward to receiving them because there was a lot of food inside. But when we opened the doors, it was awful, » Labbe confided.

« It was animated in the fridges, » reported Fortin, who had kind words for the manager of the Domaine des Erables. « It was unbelievable what she did. She did not take a day off for two weeks and she worked from 12 to 15 days a week, » she lauded.

People who wish to donate and tenants without insurance needing help can contact Labbe at 450-699-8253.

Altogether, the Domaine des Erables numbers close to 200 units. All were able to be evacuated safe and sound on the day of the fire. Besides the part to be renovated, the complex has a wing of 112 apartments whose tenants were able to reintegrate them.

Farewell to a tenant

«We are keeping what is good and we are throwing out the rest, » said Michel Morin, who with his wife Denise were busy in the apartment of his brother Jean at the Domaine des Erables. In the entrance was a pile of cardboard boxes bearing the inscriptions « Electronics » and « Books ». A tenant there for 15 years, Jean Morin was cleaning up in his bedroom. From the living room, one can see Maple Blvd. and Howard S. Billings High School.

« We are packing boxes today and we are moving tomorrow afternoon, » said Michel. « My brother has found another apartment. He is going to live on Leonie-Paradis. » Michel and his wife sheltered his fire victim brother Jean while waiting for him to find a new roof over his head.

Not everyone has as much luck and help. One lady left a message on a Le Soleil answering machine a few days ago. « I am a fire victim from March 24 and I am still in a motel, » she deplored.

(Translation Dan Rosenburg)