Sylvia Dmitruk was sleeping when fire engulfed her room at Mission Inn Motel last month.
She was awakened by one of the neighbouring ladies, urging her to get out. She sat up in bed and noticed a red glow by her kitchen counter.
Dmitruk only had time to grab her dog, leaving behind her purse and other belongings, as she fled the building.
“I’m in shock. I want to scream. I want to cry. I can’t cry. I’m a very strong person,” Dmitruk said.
Mission Fire Rescue Service (MFRS) was called to the motel for a blaze on June 14, which Dmitruk evacuated. The department attended another fire at the same location just six days later. According to the City of Mission, the property suffered extensive damage and is currently unsafe for occupancy.
After living at the motel for approximately four years, Dmitruk says she’s left with nothing. She and her dog Lailochka are currently staying with a friend.
Dmitruk said the building had no power for three days prior to the blaze, and it was one of many issues she had while living there.
She said there were periods without heat, electricity and water, in addition to issues with rats and rusty pipes.
Kalvin Bertow, who lived at the inn for the past seven years, agrees that living conditions were not comfortable.
He said previous issues made life difficult, including a lack of hot water – sometimes no water at all – along with garbage piling up, which he said led to a rat problem. He also said the power was “shut down” a few days before the fire.
“It’s so dark in the area, it forced people to use candles,” Bertow said.
Dmitruk said she had a candelabra with taper candles in her room but doesn’t know how the fire started.
MFRS chief Mark Goddard previously said the cause of the first fire will be undetermined, but it was likely due to the use of candles.
“We couldn’t prove that completely because of the level of destruction,” Goddard said.
According to an email from City of Mission chief administration officer Mike Younie, a range of concerns were raised in relation to the inn over the past number of years.
According to the city, the issues included criminal behaviour by tenants or their guests (assaults, theft and drug use/sales); building-code issues such as construction without a permit; unsightly premises; nuisance fire calls; and calls for medical service.
Mission Mayor Paul Horn said the building is privately owned and operated, despite some misinformation in the community to the contrary.
He said he previously heard from residents with concerns such as safety and whether people who were in the building were actually tenants.
“The city couldn’t go out and force the owner to fix something. It wouldn’t be in the city’s power or domain, but the city can go out – and did go out frequently – to enforce the bylaws and to enforce things like building codes,” Horn said.
In a news release, the city said the file is a priority. Staff from the fire department, building inspections, bylaw enforcement and Mission RCMP are on the scene daily and are working to ensure the site is secure and does not pose a risk to neighbouring properties.
Twelve residents were evacuated from the building after the initial fire, and a school bus was brought in to transfer them.
Mission Community Services Society (MCSS) executive director Nate McCready said the organization opened their extreme-weather shelter to accommodate 10 people after the fire. He said six of the evacuated residents stayed in the shelter, while MCSS helped three others get to family.
Two of the six individuals at the shelter plan to stay in MCSS properties long-term, while the others are seeking other options.
Since the fires, Horn said social organizations have expressed concern that there isn’t a place for folks to go.
“That’s a real concern for us as well and that’s why we made it a priority to try and build new housing through our affordable housing strategy,” he said. “The reality is that we know we are in urgent need of housing and particularly housing for folks who are at the lowest end of the income scale.”
While finding a new home is a priority, Bertow said he has a bigger concern – his cat.
“On the day of the first fire, they moved all of the occupants onto the roadway. After they got the fire out, ESS (emergency support service) was on site and they started bringing out the animals from the suites,” he said.
Bertow, who has mobility issues and is currently using a walker, was given his cat, but quickly realized he couldn’t hold on to it and the walker at the same time.
He asked that the cat be put back in his room, and Bertow went back twice to feed it and provide fresh water.
When he returned on June 20, he discovered three fire trucks on scene as the second blaze was taking place. He hasn’t seen the cat since.
Now unable to go into his room because of all the debris in the area, he asked an RCMP officer and later a member of the SPCA to go into his room and feed his cat.
Both of them told him his room was empty.
Bertow thinks they are wrong. He believes the cat is hiding somewhere, afraid. And now, the building is being boarded up and he fears it will be trapped in the building.
“It’s cruel; it’s not right,” he said.
The Mission Record has been unable to reach the owner of the property for comment.
- With files from Kevin Mills
