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A Toronto hotel has organized a Christmas Eve buffet lunch for some Thorncliffe Park residents forced out of their condo units by a complex fire.
The Toronto Don Valley Hotel and Suites will host the luncheon on Dec. 24 for residents of 11 Thorncliffe Park Dr. and 21 Overlea Blvd.
Residents had to leave their units after a fire that burned in between the walls of their connected condo buildings. The fire, which began on Nov. 27, was finally extinguished by Dec. 15.
According to officials, units damaged during firefighting operations are to be assessed by third-party engineers hired by the property management companies that maintain the buildings.
Toronto Fire Services and the City of Toronto have said residents will return home in phases depending on what work needs to be done. There’s been no word, however, on when residents can return.
‘Not a nice situation,’ displaced resident says
Yiannis Fotopoulos, a resident, told CBC Toronto on Monday that he went to the hospital on Sunday because of his anxiety and spent the day there.
Fotopoulos said it’s been nearly a month since he had to leave his home, but he is trying to make the best of his predicament.
“It’s not a nice situation — Christmastime for everyone of us. It’s very, very sad,” Fotopoulos said. “People say to us: ‘Don’t worry, just stop the anxiety.’ But how can you do that?”
Fotopoulos said it is stressful not to be at home and being at the hotel is not the same as being at home. Residents have been told not to go to their units while work is being done, he said.
But he said residents are hoping for good news in the new year and it’s “nice” that the hotel is hosting a luncheon for the displaced residents. “We’re happy about this,” he said.
Jacqui Julien, a Thorncliffe Park resident, says: ‘People are lonely. We want to go back home.’ (Lokchi Lam/CBC)
Jacqui Julien, another resident, said she feels lucky that she will not have to stay in the hotel over Christmas. She said she will stay with family instead.
“Some people are in a better position. I have a niece that’s coming to take me. I’ll spend Christmas with her, me and my husband,” she said.
“People are lonely. We want to go back home.”
Julien said the hotel’s luncheon is “a nice gesture on their part.”
CBC Toronto has reached out to the property management companies but hasn’t yet heard back.
According to Toronto Fire Services, the fire slowly burned combustible particle board placed in an expansion joint between the two buildings, and crews had to go through the walls of some units to access the source and ensure the fire was out, causing extra damage.
Firefighters used several different methods to extinguish the blaze, cutting into walls, applying water and water-based foam, and using carbon dioxide and helium to displace the oxygen.
“This city has never had a fire this complex,” Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessop said on Dec. 16.
