After the fiery devastation at Penhold's Wild Rose Manor costs to fight the blaze keep rising while bills accumulate for the Town of Penhold.
“The cost of fighting the fire will be between $150,000 and $300,000,” said Jim Pendergast, the town's fire chief. “We will not be able to determine the final cost to Penhold until we get all the bills in which could take several weeks. There will be a bill from the Town of Innisfail, a bill for the services of Red Deer County assistance, a bill for the foam we had to purchase from Red Deer when we ran out, air packs and lighting, among others, all of which are unknown at this point.”
Mayor Dennis Cooper would not pinpoint a final cost when asked.
“As Jim (Pendergast) has said, we won't know until all the bills come in but we do know that once they do, we will be passing them on to the insurance company of the property owner,” said Cooper. “This is our first major fire so we are all learning.”
The April 10 fire at the 18-suite Wild Rose Manor tested Penhold's volunteer fire department and area emergency providers' skills and resources. Town of Penhold councillors and employees manned crucial command posts and acted as point contacts for the public in the trying time.
“I was very proud of my council,” said Penhold mayor Dennis Cooper during their April 14 council meeting. “We all kicked in and proved that we are a can-do council and I am proud of all of you.”
According to Pendergast, the Alberta Fire Commissioner's Office, Innisfail RCMP, and the insurance company, the fire likely started in a barbecue-type device on a second floor balcony.
The tenants of Wild Rose Manor were given damage deposit cheques by building owner Jim Guilbault to help them find new housing arrangements.
Red Cross Emergency and Disaster Services were called in to help displaced tenants throughout the state of emergency on April 10. Accommodations were provided by the Red Cross at the Super 6 Hotel in Red Deer in addition to food, clothing, and gift cards after the Memorial Centre was closed down.
“Our town was so generous with the displaced tenants it was amazing. The town started taking donations for the families and today (April 16) we cut cheques to them to help them out,” said Cooper.
Cooper added donations had climbed up to $9,000 which was divided up evenly between the 18 families on April 16, resulting in $500 for every family. He said a final cheque will be cut to every family after May 1 when donations will no longer be accepted.
“We have to draw the line somewhere, and with a second cheque per family this should bring them to the point where they can find a new place,” said Cooper. “The only difficulty is that Wild Rose Manor was a lower priced rent (facility) than they might be able to find now for their families.”
A secondary effect upon Penhold was the fact its water supply was compromised by the blaze.
“Our water level was down almost three feet,” said Cooper. “As a result, we had to issue a request to town citizens to decrease their water usage to allow the aquifer to restore itself to regular levels. I am pleased to say as of Wednesday, April 16 levels were back to normal and citizens can now wash clothes, shower and resume ‘regular' usage.”
While life for the displaced tenants is not back to normal yet, the fire scene at 40 Esther Close has been turned over to the building owner for cleanup, said town officials.
