Residents briefly allowed back in their homes after fire gutted Dorval apartment building
Residents went back to what was left of their homes Monday after a fire destroyed part of a Dorval apartment building last weekend.
They each had only 10 minutes to salvage what they could.
For Stephen Porter and April Mansfield, it was the first time they saw the damage from the fire since they left it in a panic on Saturday.
"OK, well, I can't get to my documents. I don't even think there is anything salvageable here," said Mansfield, surveying what was left of her home.
Porter said the sight left him feeling "overwhelmed."
"I think [I'm] just devastated and shocked," Mansfield said, "because a lot of people on the lower floors can salvage quite a bit, but us, it was just — there was nothing left. It was just char and ash and sludge."
Firefighters observe the damage from a fire that burned down homes in a Dorval apartment building. (Amanda Kline/CTV News)
Two by two, in 10-minute intervals, dozens of residents tried to grab what they could. For many who lived on the third floor, it came with the realization that they will likely never be back.
"[I'm] devastated," said Julianna Mason. "I grew up here. This is the place where I went when I first came to Canada. So, you know, all my stuff, everything from my country, all the things from when I was a baby. Everything's there."
Mason is one of almost 50 people, including 12 children, currently living in temporary housing for three days through the Canadian Red Cross' emergency response plan.
"We are working, as well as the Red Cross, in finding temporary housing for people. We are going to find out shortly in the next few days whether or not the building can be rebuilt," said Dorval Mayor Marc Doret.
"That would be the best-case scenario."
It's still not clear what caused the 4-alarm fire, which started on the balcony of one of the third-floor apartments and spread quickly. Many residents say they never heard an alarm.
"Thank God people realized because this building was never aware. The alarm was not sounding here in none of the apartments," Mason said.
The City of Dorval is collecting donations for essential items like toilet paper and toothpaste for now.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.