The tenants are back home at the Bridges Supportive Housing Facility in Quesnel.
They were evacuated because of a fire at the facility back on October 16th.
Tammy Janzen, the Executive Director of the Quesnel Shelter & Support Society, says they were actually allowed to return home after just a couple of days away.
“We were able to find people group lodging with the help of ECHEN healing Society. They opened up their hall for us and we were able to get everybody to the hall and emergency support services through the city met us there and we were able to get cots and blankets for everybody, and they were able to meet with the emergency support services volunteers who gave them vouchers for incidentals and food. And we were able to get people home within a couple of days. That being said there is still work that needs to be done in the building because of some water damage, but for the most part everybody is home and we’re just working around the repairs that need to happen.”
Janzen says people were so kind and generous and she couldn’t be prouder of the community.
“And it was really heartwarming to see people show up and welcome them home, and this is previous employees, local politicians and other service providers, things like that. I thought that we might be, people might be upset coming home, it could be triggering, it could be upsetting, but mostly the tenants were just so thankful to be able to come home.”
Janzen says it truly was a community effort.
“Quesnel Shelter and Support Society would like to thank all those that supported us through the fire incident that occurred at Bridges Supportive Housing last week. We commend the work our staff did that day, we truly are the first responders. The staff at all three of our sites were quick to act to lessen the impact on our tenants. In a time of uncertainty and stress you were a source of comfort and reassurance, we thank you. This was a true community effort and we would like to recognize the Quesnel Fire Department, Quesnel Ambulance, the Quesnel RCMP, the City of Quesnel, Northern Health, and that includes their emergency department, their specialized services, home support, ECHEN Healing Society, the emergency support services volunteers, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, Coralee Oakes, Craig’s Table, Cleo Stromquist, and Concord Restorations
There are 28 residents at Bridges.
Four people were rescued and the others were evacuated during a fire back on October 16th.
There was damage done to the first and second floors of the three-storey building.
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