Debris falls to the ground as demolition resumes on the Winters Hotel after a body was found in the single room occupancy (SRO) building, in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, April 22, 2022. A woman who survived a fatal fire at the downtown Vancouver rooming hotel has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the building's owner, the non-profit organization that operated the residence, and the city's fire department. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VANCOUVER – A woman who survived a fatal fire at a downtown Vancouver rooming hotel has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the building’s owner, the operator of the residence and the city’s fire department.
Plaintiff Jennifer Hansma is expected to join fellow survivors and members of a local housing advocacy group at a news conference later today to mark the one-year anniversary of the fire, which killed two people anddisplaced dozens of others.
The lawsuit says the owner and non-profit manager of the 110-year-old building, which operated as a rooming house for low-income residents, failed to ensure fire safety measures, while the city did not enforce safety regulations to the same standards it did elsewhere.
The claim says a separate fire broke out in the building a few days before the fatal fire, and while that blaze was quickly doused by the sprinkler system and residents using extinguishers, the fire alarm didn’t activate.
It says no one took steps to reset the sprinkler or fire alarm systems or replace fire extinguishers before the blaze killed two people and destroyed the building three days later.
The claims have not been tested in court and the defendants, the City of Vancouver and Atira, a non-profit housing provider, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday.
The plaintiff says in a statement that she lost her cat, family heirlooms and a gift from her late mother in the fire, and survivors have waited long enough for answers.
A few months after the fire, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth announced a coroner’s inquest into the deaths of the two people whose bodies were found in the rubble, saying a jury would hear from witnesses under oath and possibly make recommendations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2023.
