Fire-damaged Sarnia retirement home celebrates reopening
Fairwinds Lodge retirement home in Sarnia welcomed the community back Saturday, 10 months after fire damaged the Michigan Avenue building.
Article content
Fairwinds Lodge retirement home in Sarnia welcomed the community back Saturday, 10 months after fire damaged the Michigan Avenue building.
The fire in an attic of one wing shortly after 11 p.m. Jan. 15 led to evacuation of its 120 residents, who were sheltered temporarily then had to find new accommodations due to the damage.
A few weeks after the fire, the home’s owner announced the building would be repaired. Most of the site reopened this month. Occupancy has reached 40 per cent, general manager Tina Mel said Saturday.
“We reopened on Nov. 6 and welcomed our residents back to the building,” Mel said. “It was an absolutely amazing day.”
An open house and ribbon-cutting were held Saturday to celebrate the reopening of most of the building and thank the community for its support.
“We have been so blessed with all the community partners,” Mel said.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley and Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey were on hand for the ribbon-cutting.
“The last time I saw many of these people was at 4 a.m.” on the morning of the fire at an evacuation centre at Lambton College, Bradley said.
“It was stunning,” Bradley said of the fact all residents were safely evacuated. “It was a miracle, it really was.”
Firefighters from Point Edward, St. Clair Township and even a crew from Port Huron, Mich., battled the blaze and joined paramedics, police and home staff in carrying out the evacuation.
The fire was determined to be accidental.
Mel said more residents are slated to move in in coming weeks.
“We been incredibly busy with tours and it has been wonderful to bring people back to the building,” she said. “We’ve been welcoming returning residents back to the building, and new friends as well.”
So far, 71 of 113 units are open again and the rest are expected to be available by early summer, Mel said.
“We have about 10 full-time employees back,” she said. “As we grow, we’ll be welcoming more to the team.”
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.