North Battleford has seen a rash of nine structure fires this year, and now the question is what will happen to the structures that were the most damaged.
Councillor Kelli Hawtin noted there were at least “a couple of places” that were left in unsafe condition due to fire. She asked fire chief Lindsay Holm if any properties are going to be demolished, or repaired.
Holm’s response indicated there was still much up in the air with respect to the hardest hit properties.
He noted that once a fire is out, he has a “bit of a process” to follow with respect to going through a demolition order. If a property is structurally unsound while a fire is going on — “if it was going to take out houses on either side of it,” Holm said — he can take some measures to have the property destroyed. He had the ability under the Fire Safety Act to make an immediate order.
The issue was getting services disconnected, Holm said. If he couldn’t get the services disconnected prior to the fire being extinguished, they could not knock the building down.
Regarding the last two recent fires, one on 99th Street and another on 101st Street in North Battleford, Holm said he had entered into that process of determining what’s going to happen with those buildings.
Holm said both properties were insured, so they are going through a lengthy process with insurers to allow them to bring in inspectors and investigators.
Holm indicated he should have information on the two properties by next week and had conversations with the insurance people. He did say there have been complaints from residents regarding the 99th St. property about the condition it has been left in. He noted the CSOs did have to board up one of those properties three times.
Holm indicated there was another property on 101st Street where work has started as well. “It does take a bit of time,” he said.
Another issue is security of the damaged properties and the potential for break-ins. Hawtin asked if those properties were being regularly patrolled on a daily basis, citing concerns she heard from the neighborhood residents that people might be going into them.
Holm knows the 99th St. property was a “particular frustration” for them. What would happen is it would get boarded up, and then a few nights later it get broken into.
Holm also indicated at the meeting that each time they boarded up the house, they would have to clear the house to make sure no one was inside.
One thing the CSOs have been doing is checking the condition of the board-up to make sure they have not been breached. Holm said he had been out there as well, and had talked to some of the neighbours to get a sense of the issues.
“Unfortunately, a lot of times these properties do get broken into,” Holm said.
