After fire destroyed his home, St. John's man wonders how he'll pick up the pieces

Maurice Doyle was asleep on Monday morning when his girlfriend shook him awake and said their house was on fire.

"Everybody was telling me to [go], screaming at me to get out," said Doyle in an interview with CBC News on Thursday. "I grabbed my animals and I just come out and realized the house is, like, fully up in flames."

The fire started at a home on Lime Street before jumping to Doyle's building on Livingstone Street. The fire destroyed both buildings, one of which belonged to the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation. In that building there were four apartments, including the one where Doyle and his girlfriend lived. 

All that's left in the unit now has been completely destroyed by water damage from the firefighting efforts and subsequent rainy weather.

On Thursday afternoon, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary told CBC News the investigation into the cause of the fire had not yet been concluded.

Doyle said N.L. Housing has placed them in emergency housing for now and is working on getting them a new, more permanent solution.

WATCH | Fire destroyed mutliple homes in downtown St. John's, tenants wonder what's next:

‘We lost everything’: Downtown fire victims get first look at burned apartment

1 year ago

Duration 1:41

Maurice Doyle says nothing can be salvaged from the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing unit he used to call home. Fire tore through the downtown building on Monday. On Thursday, tenants like Doyle got their first look inside.

On Thursday, Doyle and his girlfriend were able to go back into the burnt-out building to see if they could recover any of their belongings.

"We can't get nothing out of there. There's nothing salvageable out of there," said Doyle. "We lost everything we ever owned." 

For now, Doyle said he is taking it day by day, but said he wishes the path forward was more clear.

"I just wanna be shown, like, someone to tell us what's the path we take now," said Doyle. 

"We don't know where to go. We're just still just going to continue asking for help, but we just need to know what's next for us," said Doyle. "Where do we turn to now?

In an interview with CBC News earlier this year, Doyle expressed concerns with the housing unit he was place in on Livingstone Street.

Although it wasn't the neighbourhood he wanted to be in, he said, this isn't how he pictured getting out of the situation.

"We're just looking for a comfortable place that we can just be content, you know. That's all we want," said Doyle.

"We just want to be content and just peaceful, right? That's what anybody wants."

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