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Outpouring of support for victims of North Cowichan apartment fire

Donations for those displaced by a large apartment fire in North Cowichan on New Year’s Eve fill an 8,000-square-foot warehouse and two shipping containers, which one volunteer says is an indication of the overwhelming community support for those who
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About 38 residents of a 34-unit apartment building have been displaced after a fire in North Cowichan on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020. CHEK NEWS

Donations for those displaced by a large apartment fire in North Cowichan on New Year’s Eve fill an 8,000-square-foot warehouse and two shipping containers, which one volunteer says is an indication of the overwhelming community support for those who have lost their homes.

North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP continue to investigate the cause of Thursday’s fire at at 2574 Lewis St., which left one person dead and sent seven others to hospital. About 38 residents of the 34-unit building have been displaced and, with access to the building restricted for safety reasons, most do not know whether their personal items have been destroyed.

Lyle Jordan, a Duncan paramedic and business owner who organized a fundraiser for those affected, said he’s blown away by the more than $20,000 that had been donated as of Monday.

Jordan said he doesn’t know any of the displaced residents, but was compelled to act by the many people in need.

“I can’t even image what it feels like not only losing your home, but maybe losing a friend,” he said.

Hundreds of people also dropped off clothing, toiletries and personal items over the weekend. In the first 10 minutes, 600 pounds of clothing was dropped off, Jordan said.

“The considerable outpouring of humanity here is the real story,” he said.

Dozens of volunteers sorted the items so that displaced residents could take what they need. Jordan said volunteers are unable to accept furniture at the moment because of limited storage capacity.

Jordan said he was struck by the story of one displaced resident who offered to volunteer at the sorting and distribution facility.

“He said: ‘What you’re doing for me, I can’t repay you but let me repay you in my ability to help,’ ” Jordan recounted.

A committee has been set up to manage the money raised, which Jordan said will be distributed based on severity and urgency of need. Donations will be distributed after police and fire inspectors have finished their investigation and released the building, which is when residents might have a better idea of the items they’ve lost.

The blaze, which started in a suite on the top floor of the four-storey building, forced some people to jump from windows while others were ­rescued by firefighters using ladder trucks.

The older building was not equipped with sprinklers, said Martin Drakeley, North Cowichan’s manager of fire and bylaw services. Drakely said that is common among buildings built before sprinklers were required in B.C.’s building code.

Emergency Support Services of the Cowichan Valley Regional District is providing displaced residents with temporary shelter, food and clothing.

North Cowichan Mayor Al Siebring said the fire highlights the need for affordable rental housing in the Cowichan Valley.

Siebring said since late 2018, about 500 rental units have been built in the community, but those units are not enough to make up for a decades-long dearth of purpose-built affordable rental buildings.

B.C. Housing is constructing 100 modular supportive housing units in Duncan and North Cowichan, with the aim of housing people by the spring. However, Siebring said those units are being built to house people with substance use and mental health challenges.

The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating the death. The identity of the person who died has not been released.

kderosa@timescolonist.com