Tenants allowed back into flood

Tenants allowed back into flood-damaged building, but some aren't ready to return

McEwen Avenue tower suffered major damage in Canada Day storm

Some tenants of a west Ottawa highrise that had its power system wiped out during the intense Canada Day storm are expressing reservations now that the building's owner says they can return to their apartments.

The massive July 1 downpour left the main floor and basement of Saickley Enterprises's 228-unit tower on McEwen Avenue underwater. The electrical transformer blew and all power to the building was lost.

While the City of Ottawa never issued a mandatory evacuation order, both Saickley and the fire department strongly recommended that residents go live elsewhere. The elevators weren't running, there was no power and it was feared that some floors might have limited water service.

Some tenants chose to leave, staying instead with family or in hotels.

Canada Day storm upends lives of flooded apartment building's residents

On Thursday, Saickley notified residents that while it would still take a lot of work to get the building "back to normal" — including fully restoring the fire alarm and sprinkler systems — they could return to their apartments the following morning.

But in an email Friday night, Saickley told tenants it would be cutting off elevator service to the bottom three floors, citing a report from an environmental engineer.

Shilo Taylor, who lives on the 21st floor, said she's staying put at her friends' house in Kanata.

“I want to return when I have confidence that the building is functioning safely and that the remaining disruptions are no longer significant enough to affect my health or wellbeing,” Taylor wrote to CBC after seeing the Friday email.

While she understands that requirements under the province's fire code may have been satisfied, Taylor said she doesn't believe that means the building is up to a day-to-day living standard.

Tower is 'habitable,' company says

In its notice to tenants on Thursday, Saickley said that while people living on floors two through eight were still without hot water, there were no outstanding Ontario Fire Code issues preventing re-occupancy of the building.

"Many tenants have already returned to their units, even prior to us sending the notice out," the company said in an email to CBC on Friday after declining an interview.

Saickley added that it's in daily contact with the City of Ottawa and Ottawa Fire Services, noting that "essential services" are restored to all units and the building is "habitable."

In its own statement to CBC on Friday, the city said that while tenants weren't required to evacuate after the storm, anyone "unable to safely or reasonably manage the challenging living conditions" was strongly encouraged to temporarily relocate.

Tenants return to McEwen Avenue building after Canada Day floods

Both the fire department and the city's chief building official had the authority to prohibit occupancy of the building, according to the city.

But based on Saickley's implementation of a fire watch system and its maintenance of functional exit routes and stairwells in the event of an emergency, the building was deemed safe enough for people to live in, the city said.

"While repairs to restore normal building operations continue, the temporary life safety measures remain in place to ensure the building is safe to be occupied," the city added in its statement.

Taylor disagreed, saying the lack of fully restored fire alarm and sprinkler systems remains a "significant" issue.

She pointed to other concerns, including the fact only two of three elevators are in service and that residents are being urged not to use "more than one major appliance at a time" so as to not "overload and blow the generators," as the company wrote in its Thursday notice.

"I am particularly concerned about the impact on vulnerable residents, including seniors, families with young children, individuals with disabilities, those with chronic medical conditions, and residents who rely on elevators," Taylor wrote in an email to the company that she shared with CBC.

Worries about future emergencies

Taylor isn't the only tenant voicing concerns.

Jaime Betancur was outside the building Friday, having dropped by to see if he was ready to move back in.

"I don't know if moving all these people back into the building is going to create a heavy load to these generators and at some point ... create another emergency," Betancur said.

Betancur later said over email that he's worried about the fire watch system. He said that, from what he'd observed, on-site personnel were splitting their time between fire watch duties and security matters.

"There are only two guards visible on-site. It is physically impossible for them to thoroughly patrol 25 storeys of corridors, stairwells and service rooms," he said.

Ontario launches financial relief program for some Ottawa residents hit with flooding

Asked about Betancur's concerns, Saickley told CBC that guards are not multi-tasking and that the fire watch requirements were thoroughly implemented with the help of the fire department.

"It is possible that tenants are only seeing two guards at a time but [it] is a big site and patrolling at the minimum of once every hour will result in some of the guards not being seen at the same time," the company wrote.

Saickley also added that it's working to restore hot water to floors two through eight as soon as possible and tenants are only being asked to be "somewhat mindful" of their electricity use.

The company also wrote Taylor back about her concerns, stating that when it comes to elevators they were "assisting residents on a case-by-case basis as best we can."

As for tenant Becky Maracle, she told Radio-Canada that if she needs hot water, she'll just boil it on the stove.

"So far, it's livable," she said.

With files from Joseph Tunney and Kimberley Molina