Community support for residents displaced by O'Leary fire 'almost overwhelming,' says CAO

More than 30 people packed into the town hall in O'Leary after they were forced to evacuate when a fire broke out Tuesday morning in the attic of a building where they were living.

There were no reported injuries, but the building will need some renovations, according to the western P.E.I. town's fire chief.

The Canadian Red Cross is working with the Town of O'Leary to help roughly 40 residents of the building, the former Lady Slipper Villa seniors home, who were temporarily displaced.

O'Leary's chief administrative officer, Joanie Chislett, said several residents started arriving at the town hall a few hours after the fire broke out at around 10:30 a.m.

"There was some people that had nothing with them, there were some that had suitcases," she said.

Chislett contacted the Canadian Red Cross, which provided temporary accommodations for the displaced residents at Mill River Resort.

"Some are a little worried about their passports, you know, important papers, things like that. But ultimately... I think they were in good spirits leaving," she said. "They had something to eat, there was some people that had donated clothing."

Chislett posted about the incident on social media, and said the response from the community was "almost overwhelming" to the point where they had to stop taking donations.

"There were people that showed up here with money, people showed up with meat pies, clothing, paper towels."