Province deems Alberton apartment building unsafe following fire

Provincial officials have stepped in to deal with an apartment building in Alberton, P.E.I., that was damaged by fire a week ago.

The converted former motel, located on Church Street, has been declared dangerous and unsafe by the province, which has ordered the owner to either repair or demolish it.

One former resident told CBC he continued to stay at his apartment for a while after the fire even though there was no electricity or heat.

The fire displaced 10 residents. As of Thursday afternoon, no one was living there.

Lynne St Denis had plans to help her son move into the apartment building, but the fire happened before she could do that.

"Right now the housing market is desperate. People that are below the mid-range income, they have nowhere to go. So this was the last resort for a lot of people," she said.

Some tenants may be able to return, owner says

The building is owned by M Property Management Group, an out-of-province company. Before the province issued its dangerous premises order, the owners had emailed CBC News to say they were working to repair the building.

"Our number one goal is to get most of the residents back into the building as soon as possible," the email said.

Late Thursday, after the province issued its order, the owners emailed CBC News with a further update.

"From our external consultations with engineers, we are of the opinion that there is no structural damage to the part of the building where the fire occurred. We have been also informed that building where the fire occurred does not pose a risk to the other building or the rest of the property," the statement read. 

"We have notified the appropriate tenants of our plans to proceed with reoccupation, pending official government approval, and we anticipate that some tenants may be able to return to [the] building unaffected by the fire."

The company added it has returned outstanding money owed to the "vast majority of tenants who have moved out" and is making further arrangements.

We would hope that the manager would use this opportunity to rebuild and make it up to code.— Donna Thomson, Alberton CAO

Alberton officials say the property has been a concern for several years and the town has issued cleanup orders in the past.

"We want to make sure that they're not moving people back into a place that's not livable. We're concerned that the living quality may not be up to standards and we would hope that the manager would use this opportunity to rebuild and make it up to code," Alberton CAO Donna Thomson said.

The province's order requires that the building be boarded up and Do Not Enter signs be placed on all doors. A report listing all of the building's deficiencies has been passed on to the owners and immediate action is required, according to provincial officials.