Residents of a Cornerstone women’s shelter are safe and have been relocated to a new house after a deadly fire broke out at the 515 MacLaren St. location Nov. 8.
“The women have safe accommodation and they’re all appropriately housed,” said Bill Prentice, director of parish and diocesan services at the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa. “It’s a temporary situation and we hope to get them back into their home as soon as possible.”
He could not specify where the women are currently located.
Prentice said there will be a restoration process taking place to repair the damages to the building which will be paid for by the shelter’s insurance company.
The blaze hit this community hard as it not only damaged the building, but claimed the life of one of the shelter residents who was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.
But in this time of sadness, the shelter has received an influx of donations from the community, Prentice said.
“We’ve had a mountain of clothing, we’ve had a mountain of toiletries, we’ve had a bunch of things,” he said.
But what Prentice said is really needed is for various community groups to provide a supper once or twice a week for the women who live at the shelter.
“They’re all in a good housing situation, but there’s not a good kitchen in it,” he said. “So breakfast and lunch are pretty easy, but an evening meal – if a community group wanted to do that – would be an excellent gift and an excellent way to respond.”
Ottawa Fire Services Fire Chief James Ullett said, because there was a death involved, it could be six weeks to two months before hearing more details from the fire marshal regarding what caused the fire.