Toronto Community Housing welcomes the Ontario Fire Marshal's findings about the cause of the fire at 200 Wellesley St. E. on September 24, 2010.

The Ontario Fire Marshal has identified a discarded cigarette as the fire's cause. Toronto Community Housing warns tenants about this fire safety hazard and others when tenants sign their lease.

The Ontario Fire Marshal has also identified a tenant unit with excessive belongings as a contributing factor to the fire. Toronto Community Housing has addressed these hazards at 200 Wellesley St. E. The company conducts annual unit inspections to ensure all units meet the required standards for fire safety. The company also works to connect vulnerable tenants to the services they need to address this complex problem and maintain their housing as safe living spaces.

While the six-alarm fire was clearly devastating, thanks to the efforts of Toronto Fire, Police and EMS, and the building's fully-functioning life safety systems, everyone made it out safely and there were no serious injuries.

In the fire's aftermath, Toronto Community Housing responded immediately. Working together with several city agencies and community organizations, the company provided emergency accommodation to tenants who needed it. Crews worked round the clock to do repairs and get tenants home as soon as possible. Staff also connected tenants to agencies and organizations to ensure tenant could access basics like food, clothing, health care, pet care and social services. The company also took over direct management of the building's property management from the private company that provided that service before the fire.

Toronto Community Housing communicated regularly with tenants, by distributing regular tenant updates, updating information on the company's website, sharing information at community meetings, and discussing individual situations with tenants face-to-face, one-on-one.

A voluntary tenant compensation program is in place for tenants affected by the fire. It offers to compensate eligible participants for loss of belongings, emotional distress, loss of comfort and convenience, cleaning, food spoilage, loss of income, out-of-pocket expenses, and personal injuries.

Toronto Community Housing will not be offering any further public comment on this matter.

QUOTE

"The Ontario Fire Marshal's findings shine a light on the dangers of careless smoking and how tenants having excessive belongings can pose a safety hazard for an entire building and for emergency responders. They remind us all about the need for tenants to follow fire safety rules and for landlords to remain vigilant in ensuring tenants maintain their housing as safe living spaces."

-Len Koroneos, CEO (Interim), Toronto Community Housing

KEY FACTS

Toronto Community Housing has taken action to address the hazards associated with tenants at 200 Wellesley St. E. who were found to have excessive belongings:

- Excess materials were cleared to make affected units comply with Toronto Fire requirements.

- Follow-up inspections were completed on May 18, 2011, for all the tenants whose units were identified as having excessive belongings and who have since returned home. Units will be reinspected at the end of June 2011.

- Working with Toronto Public Health, the company met one-on-one with tenants and their families to link the tenants to community supports, including clutter consultants.

- Where possible, we negotiated lease agreements with specific provisions to deal with additional unit inspections and fire safety.

- Where required, we started eviction proceedings before the Landlord and Tenant Board, where remedies range from mediated agreements with tenants to eviction.

- All building units are being reinspected as part of the company's annual unit inspection process, which will begin in late July.

This approach-annual unit inspections with vulnerability checks, clearing clutter where it's found, connecting tenants to supports, mediated agreements with tenants requiring additional unit inspections and, as a last resort, eviction proceedings-is employed by Toronto Community Housing in buildings across its portfolio.

As part of its long-standing commitment to address hazards relating to tenants with excessive belongings, Toronto Community Housing is a member of the city-wide Toronto Hoarding Coalition. The coalition involves a group of agencies that are working to create ways for individuals who engage in hoarding behaviour to have access to integrated services they need to maintain housing and quality of life. We work with the agencies involved to connect tenants to the integrated services they need to maintain their housing as safe living spaces.

ABOUT TORONTO COMMUNITY HOUSING

Toronto Community Housing (www.torontohousing.ca) is Canada's largest social housing provider and home to more than 164,000 tenants with low and moderate incomes-about six per cent of the City of Toronto's population. Toronto Community Housing employs 1,400 staff in a broad range of jobs, who deliver its mandate to provide affordable housing, connect tenants to services and opportunities, and work together to build healthy communities.

MEDIA CONTACT

Jeffrey Ferrier
Toronto Community Housing Media Relations
416-981-4252, jeffrey.ferrier@torontohousing.ca