Tenants in St. Jamestown highrise still without power after storm
CBC
Tenants in a St. Jamestown apartment building are still waiting for power to be restored to their units in the aftermath of Tuesday's storm.
Danny Roth, a spokesperson for Wellesley Parliament Square (WPSQ), the building's property management company, said there's no timeline for when the power will be restored to units at 77 Howard St., near Bloor Street East and Parliament Street.
"Following the storm, there was a flood, there was water damage that got into the electrical system and we lost power to the building," Roth said.
"The damage is catastrophic and it's going to take a very long time to fix. Whether that's weeks or months, I don't know. But if we can return power in the short term, an alternative source, however we have to do it, the day-to-day experience for the tenants should be as it was prior to the flood," he added.
"I think it's premature to say how long it's going to take us to fix it. I can say with certainty that there's not a resource that's not being devoted to fixing it."
According to tenants who spoke to CBC Toronto, a pipe burst on the 11th floor of the building during the storm. Tenants said water flooded the elevator bank and sparked an electrical fire.
Toronto Fire Services extinguished the fire. Water was cut off but was restored by Wednesday morning.
Now, backup generators are suppling emergency power to two out of three elevators and common areas at the building. There is no evacuation order for the building.
Roth said the company supplied food to the tenants on Wednesday night because it understands the situation is difficult.
He said management responded quickly to the flooding, water damage and loss of power and it arranged to have crews on scene within hours of the flood.
"We brought external generators on site almost immediately and very quickly we were able to return water service to the building, which is obviously critical," he said. "We are working to return power to the individual suites."
In an email on Thursday, the city said its staff are talking to Wellesley Parliament Square about the building. The city said the property management company is responsible for supporting tenants with essential services and ensuring that power is restored.
"City staff are checking in regularly with the property managers to ensure all precautions are being taken to protect the health and wellbeing of the tenants," the city said in the email.
The property management company is the same one that dealt with a massive electrical fire and 18-month evacuation order at nearby 650 Parliament in 2018.
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