Resident says he's without belongings after fire in Glengarry Avenue building
A fire ripped through Wheelton Manor's 7th floor last week
Almost everything Kevin Poulin owns is still on the seventh floor of Wheelton Manor.
The resident says he's been trying to get back in to retrieve some of his belongings since a fire last week caused extensive damage.
But Poulin says he's been turned away with very little information — and none of his stuff.
"The guy told me there's nothing salvageable up there," Poulin told CBC News. "So everything we got up there we lost."
Right now, Poulin says he's staying with friends, sleeping on the floor with his three dogs.
He was offered a place at the city's emergency shelter, located at the WFCU Centre, but says he won't be going because the trip out there is too challenging with his dogs.
The Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation says about 70 per cent of the residents have been allowed to return home and about 40 residents are still displaced.
Buses acting as shuttles go back and forth from the Housing and Homelessness Help Hub daily to the WFCU Centre, where residents are being provided with meals.
Poulin says being in the fire was "traumatic."
"I came out the side and down the side and haven't been allowed back in since," he said. "I was in a fire when I was younger but it's different especially when you look out in your hallway and can't see anything."
Until residents are allowed back in, Poulin says he thinks they should be put up in motel or hotel rooms nearby.
"My rent is paid, I don't cause problems. Put us up somewhere, somewhere close too," he said.
The City of Windsor declined to comment Monday, with a spokesperson saying they'd be communicating directly with residents individually. More information is expected on Tuesday.
The fire broke out Thursday on the seventh floor of Wheelton Manor, prompting a complete evacuation of the building. Eleven people were assessed by paramedics, and five — including a firefighter — were taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
Ontario's Office of the Fire Marshall is investigating.
