Friends and family have identified one of the victims of a single-room hotel in Gastown (SRO), uprooted by the fire, as Mary Ann Garlow.
The demolition of the Winters SRO was halted over the weekend after two bodies with hours apart were found on Friday.
Candice McClorin, one of 71 people displaced by the fire, told Global News that she believed Garlow was still in the building after failing to show up.
Read more: The second body was found in the remains of a fire-destroyed building of the Gastown heritage
McLaren described Garlow as quiet, funny, and a person who usually behaves.
Candice McLorin presents flowers at the memorial to the victims of the fire at the Winters Hotel. Global news
“I just knew she was there, she’s not going anywhere else. It’s very heartbreaking, “she said. “I feel like they’re trying to destroy it without first looking for bodies or people I knew were missing.
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The city of Vancouver says firefighters conducted a preliminary search of the building immediately after the fire, but were unable to conduct a re-search because the structure was too dangerous.
2:42 2 bodies found during the demolition of the Winters Hotel 2 bodies found during the demolition of the Winters Hotel
Jennifer Hansma, another former resident, said Garlow’s son was still in hospital with broken ankles during the blaze.
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“I guess now that his mother is gone, he’s gone,” she said. “She was my friend’s mother, so she was like a mother to us. She was beautiful. She had her problems, but we all have our problems. ”
The second victim of the fire has not yet been identified.
Read more: Unattended candles responsible for the “accidental” fire in Gastown, demolition begins
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On Friday, Janice Abbott, chief executive of the women’s company Atira, which manages Winters SRO, described the findings as “the worst possible news”.
Abbott said Atira reported missing persons a week ago for missing tenants after a staff member did not hear from them.
She said she contacted police again on Thursday, when the missing resident had not yet appeared.
“We probably came to terms with the news we heard today, but everyone had little hope,” she said.
It is believed that the second victim, she said, was not a resident of the building.
2:26 A medical examiner called at the site of the Gastown fire after bodies were found during the demolition.
A small but growing memorial sprang up against a section of fence outside the demolition site on Saturday when people stopped leaving flowers and personal notes.
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One note pays tribute to Mary, along with several pets lost in the fire, including Hansma’s missing cat Niglet.
“I woke up not breathing. I opened my door, saw black smoke, closed it, tried to find my cat. “I couldn’t find my cat and I had to leave,” she said.
Read more: “I have nothing left”: Residents displaced after a fire in the Gastown heritage building
“I can’t bury the body. I can’t say my last goodbye. And it hurts. ”
Vancouver firefighters believe the fire was caused by unsupervised candles and say it was first discovered by supervisors.
Fire monitoring was necessary as the building’s sprinkler systems were recently deactivated after another unrelated fire.
After the sprinklers extinguished the fire, they were turned off. The fire department issued a report of violation to the operator of the building for their service and issued an order for the building to be placed under surveillance until the work is completed.
The displaced residents have since been relocated to a building owned by Atira on 303 Columbia Street.
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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