Arson claimed a house on 101Street in North Battleford in June. (Julia Lovett-Squires/battlefordsNOW)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Arson

Decision on next steps for house set ablaze by arson tabled until September

Aug 26, 2024 | 5:12 PM

The owner of a North Battleford home is appealing to City Council after an arson-caused fire rendered it condemned and and an order issued for it to be demolished.

Speaking at last week’s meeting, the owner said he was working with his insurance company, they noted while there is “significant fire and smoke damage” to the interior, the building was structurally sound.

“So, the result is it will be a complete tear down of the interior including all plumbing, electrical, drywall, insulation, cabinets, countertops, light fixtures, basically right down to the studs,” the owner said.

Exterior work will include all windows, doors and replacement of stucco and the demolition and cleanup will cost roughly $20,000.

According to the Order to Demolish, the fire happened in mid-June on 101st Street and after the initial investigation, Director of Protective Services Lindsay Holm issued the order.

NDTR

First Nations, Inuit and Metis leaders say work lays ahead on road to reconciliation

23h ago

First Win of the Season

Baumbach steps up in debut to help North Stars take down Hawks

Sep 29, 2024

Riders win

Roughriders down Redblacks 29-16 to vault over Lions in CFL's West Division

Sep 28, 2024

The owner told Mayor David Gillan that he would like the order rescinded so he can rebuild.

“It’s basically going to be a new house ‘cause they’re going to cut it right down to the studs,” said the owner.

Options

For the owner of 671-101st. St., the Notice of Violation of what is also known as the nuisance bylaw offered multiple choices to deal with the building.

Those options, to “remove/demolish the building(s), including foundation, on the property, or b) to conduct repairs as outlined by the Director of Protective Services” are expected to happen within 30 days of the July 8 date.

Councillors expressed concern that the owner would make sure that it be rebuilt with properly licensed contractors and done to code. They also worried that in the period between the owner’s presentation to council to the construction company getting to work on the rebuild some planned problems might happen.

“We know from experience around the community that as soon as a house is empty and the front door is open, people walk in, they sleep there, they light other fires, they fall down stairs, they hurt each other,” said Councillor Len Taylor.

While the owner said he put dozens of screws into the plywood boarding up the home, Taylor countered council is looking for assurances the building will be secure.

He said they’ve seen other buildings that have high wrap around fencing to help deter people from coming onto the properties and asked if the owner has any plans to do something similar. The owner was agreeable.

“It depends how quick the contractor’s going to come,” he said. “Once he usually takes over, I think it’ll be secured enough but I could definitely put fencing around it.”

Significant enough

During the meeting, Holm spoke to the issue saying it was his opinion following a walk through that there was “significant enough damage to the property that it would warrant a demolition”.

“When I looked it, I did feel that there was a bit of structural issues, most notably towards the front door, there’s a severe sag in the floor,” he added, noting after seeing that he asked the city building inspector to do a report which concurred with the original findings.

“Seeing (that) it is a bit of a positive step, I guess I would sort of echo…Councillor (Thomas) Ironstand’s comments that one of my concerns would be that this building gets rebuilt in a proper fashion with registered trade workers and is subject to any and all inspections.”

Meanwhile, as for the rebuild that is expected to cost roughly $120,000, the city passed a motion to table the decision with conditions until the next meeting in order to get more information. The councillors were all in agreement that while it is a good start, the building must be done properly.

“If that building is not structurally safe, you can put enough lipstick on anything to make it look nice without it being structurally sound,” Councillor Greg Lightfoot said.

“I want to make sure that this place is going to be safe either for resale or for (rent) again.”

Arson is a problem

Arson is a problem in the city and there have been multiple incidents this year alone but those files don’t remain with the fire department.

According to Holm, who also serves as North Battleford fire chief, while he can’t speak to that fire as there is an ongoing investigation, there have been four fires categorized as arson so far in 2024.

“Once I make that determination, the file no longer becomes mine, it gets passed over to the RCMP,” he said. “We’re not necessarily there to find the person who caused a fire, we’re there to determine cause and origin and then it becomes a criminal code issue if it is determined to be an arson.”

Holm said the department works closely with the province and can call in additional resources to assist. He explained that because of the time it can take to investigate.

“It does become a pretty big draw on our resources,” he said.

On the flip side, the fire department will work with the insurance company who will usually send out an investigator.

—

julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

On X:jls194864