Christmas ornaments may still be sitting in her window, but little else is normal inside the fire-ravaged house Jeannie Grace called home for 17 years.
Jeannie Grace said she had been hoping for a good year, 'but now we have nothing.'
(CBC)
"Just getting ready for Christmas," said Grace, looking at her home, one of three houses destroyed Tuesday night on Feild Street, near downtown St. John's.
"[I was] hoping we were going to have a good year. And now we have nothing —nothing at all," Grace said Tuesday.
Grace and her neighbours are the latest to become homeless by fire in the downtown area. On Saturday night, fire destroyed three attached homes on Flower Hill.
The fires have proved to be an anxious reminder for many residents of the city core, where attached homes are common, but firewalls are not.
"You can go … six and eight homes together, they'll have an attic space that's open right from one civic address, right down to the end of the block," said Don Byrne, a superintendent with the St. John's Regional Fire Department.
Two major fires have destroyed six homes in St. John's in the past week.
(CBC)
"That gives a big void for fire to travel."
Some downtown properties date from an era before building codes were put in place. Landlords and owners have often not brought the buildings up to code.
"Where all the houses are joined, it's scary enough," said Cecilia Collins, who lives near the houses destroyed in the Feild Street fire.
Like many in the neighbourhood, Collins does not have home insurance. She said that is about to change.
"If I lose everything, I'm out in the cold with nothing. This is getting too close now for comfort," she said.
Fire Supt. Don Byrne, left, says many row houses in St. John's lack firewalls.
(CBC)
However, obtaining insurance for either tenants or homeowners in downtown St. John's is not always easy. Several companies contacted by CBC News said they will not cover people who live in homes they consider to be a high fire risk.
The work of fire inspections falls to the City of St. John's. Dave Blackmore, director of building and property management, said the city only inspects new or recently renovated residences, or if someone files a complaint about a suspected fire hazard.
St. John's has had a troubled history with fire. On three occasions in its history, the city — which at the time extended around the current downtown area — was largely levelled by fire, most recently in 1892.
Arson suspected in Flower Hill blaze
Fire officials have been looking for a cause of the Feild Street blaze, while arson investigators and police have been combing the site of the Flower Hill fire.
In that case, neighbours told CBC News that tenants who had been evicted from one of the properties days earlier returned on Saturday afternoon, and lit garbage on fire in the backyard of the property.
Neighbour Larry Byrne said firefighters extinguished that fire, but hours later a fire started inside the house.
Police and fire inspectors are not commenting on the Flower Hill investigation.
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- Zach Goudie and Lynda Calvert report for CBC-TV on the aftermath of two downtown fires that destroyed six houses (Runs: 5:25)
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