BIBLE HILL, N.S.
A recent fire that destroyed a 12-unit apartment building on Brooklyn Drive has been deemed accidental.
“The investigation found that the fire originated on an exterior deck,” a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Fire Marshall’s office said, in an e-mailed response to an inquiry from the Truro Daily News.
No further details were provided.
Information provided by some tenants in the building indicated the fire started from a cigarette that was not properly extinguished.
“That is the speculation but I can’t confirm it because I just wait for the fire marshall to tell me what the cause is,” said Ron Chisholm, a co-owner of Wallace Living, which owned the apartment building.
“It did appear to start on the balcony and it caught the (vinyl) siding on fire … and it caught the balcony above it on fire, which put it into the roof,” he said. “Exactly how it happened I don’t know. But I do know that it did start on a balcony and it is likely a cigarette that ended up in a can of cigarette butts that caught the siding on fire.”
The company does not permit smoking in its units or on balconies, nor are barbecues permitted, he said.
“It is a cautionary tale to everybody living in apartments whether it’s a cigarette or barbecue or any other sort of inflammatory or incendiary device. Although the buildings themselves are all equipped, a fire can get started very easily. And caution is key,” Chisholm said.
The building was demolished this week. Although it may have been possible to salvage some “bits and pieces,” he said, it was decided to remove the entire structure, given the cost and effort involved to renovate.
“A 12-unit apartment building is certainly upwards of $1, million. It would be definitely more than that to build it today,” he said. “So, we just bit the bullet and had to take it all down.”
About 20 tenants were displaced by the April 27 blaze in the three-storey building, although Chisholm said every effort was made by Wallace Living staff to relocate them to other units.
“We moved everybody as quickly as we could into any vacant apartments that we had and gave everybody a free month’s rent for the inconvenience of what happened.”
Chisholm said a decision has yet to be made as to whether another multi-storey building will be constructed on the site, given the changing demographics in the 20 years since it was constructed.
“We’re just trying to consider what would be the most appropriate building to build for the future as opposed to just replacing what it was, because the marketplace is dynamic and it’s always changing,” he said. “And we want to make sure we build for the future and not for the past.”
