A Toronto apartment building fire has left around 1,500 of its tenants temporarily homeless.
Residents were allowed to grab belongings from their apartments as investigators from Ontario's Office of the Fire Marshal began surveying the aftermath of Tuesday's blaze.
Residents will have a better idea of just how long they’ll be displaced after investigators and structural engineers assess the damage to the building at Bloor and Parliament streets.
Some residents, unable to find accommodations with family or friends, spent the night on cots in several community centers nearby.
Because it’s unclear when residents could return to their apartments, some tenants said they would begin looking for a new place to live.
“It’s been hell right now,” one resident told CTV Toronto on Wednesday. She was told it could take a month before the cleanup is done.
“We have no home. We don’t know where to go,” another resident said, adding she was likely going to seek refuge in a community center. The Red Cross is helping displaced residents in finding hotel rooms to stay temporarily.
Doreen Fatimah, her husband and two children were hoping to snag one of those rooms but were told that the nearest ones were over 45 minutes away in Brampton or Guelph, Ont.
The Red Cross says that people staying at Wellesley Community Centre or Regent Park Community Centre will be notified as hotel rooms open up. Electricity to the building has been temporarily cut off, which forced resident Chris Bye to search his apartment for his two cats in the dark. The skin on his thumb was burned off by his lighter as he collected some of his things.
Residents looking to collect their belongings had to climb several flights of stairs as the elevators were also temporarily out of service.
The Red Cross is asking hotels and any short-term rental hosts with available space to call 1-855-797-8875. Residents who have found accommodations should also call that number to update their status.
With files from CTV Toronto
