6 housing units destroyed in Empire Avenue fire, no injuries reported

‘This is all I have’: Woman tearfully recounts terrifying escape from St. John’s apartment fire

4 months ago

Duration 3:32

Kim Whalen could hear screams of ‘Get out!’ and when she opened the door of her apartment on Empire Avenue in St. John’s, she was engulfed in black smoke and could see flames. Six conjoined units were heavily damaged in the Monday morning blaze. Whalen is devastated that her home has been destroyed but relieved there were no injuries.

A massive fire on Monday morning ripped through a series of connected public housing units in central St. John's. 

Six conjoined units on Empire Avenue were gutted in the fire, which drew a heavy response from the St. John's regional fire department. 

Platoon chief Derek Hunt said the department received a call about the fire at 8:30 a.m., and within two minutes firefighters arrived at the site to find heavy smoke and visible flames.

"Our main priority then was to stop the fire spread," Hunt told CBC News late Monday morning.

"We have very high winds today, prevailing winds that are blowing the smoke and fire towards the undamaged units."

The fire destroyed at least six units. Hunt said residents were evacuated and there were no injuries.

At one point, orange flames were shooting out of a ground-floor window in one unit, with similar flames devouring the eaves along the roof. 

On the doorsteps of nearby units, residents watched crews attacking the fire from both sides of the building.

Kim Whalen was in her living room underneath the unit where the fire originated. She says she noticed a man across the street from the window waving his arms and telling her to get out.

That's when she noticed the smoke. Within seconds, she grabbed her dog, Juno, and left.

"We had to run through the flames," she said. She was terrified, she said, but was more worried about her upstairs neighbours because they have a baby.

"I told the fireman, 'You got to get the baby,' but they were already out, thank God."

She watched from across the road, surrounded by Red Cross workers, as everything she owned burned, including recipe boxes with handwritten notes and valuables that were passed down from her grandmother to her mother, both of whom are dead.

WATCH | Firefighters tackled the flames and thick smoke Monday morning at an apartment fire:

Row of public housing units destroyed by morning fire in St. John’s

4 months ago

Duration 1:07

A catastrophic fire raged through a public housing complex in the Rabbittown neighbourhood of St. John’s on Monday morning. There are no reports of injuries, but several adjoining housing units have been completely destroyed.

"A lot of photographs that I'll never get back," she said. "[But] everyone got out safe. So that's the main thing."

Marc Budgell, Newfoundland and Labrador Housing director of communications, said they "are working with the impacted tenants to identify alternative housing options."

Whalen says the Red Cross will provide her with a hotel room for a few days. She doesn't know what she will do afterward, she said, but the main thing is she made it out safely.

"I'm alive. I got out."

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