Bathurst fire victims receive $1,600 each from city

The victims of a Nov. 28 downtown fire in Bathurst received financial support from the city Tuesday morning at City Hall. Each of the sixpeople displaced when the blaze destroyed their apartments were give checks of $1,600 from the Downtown Bathurst Revitalization Corporation.

After the tragedy, which also destroyed three local businesses, residents and companies from the area sent donations to City Hall to help those affected.

"It feels really good," says fire victim Chris Roy, who lost his apartment.

"I've got a new apartment and everything's coming back together. It feels pretty good."

The donations were distributed by the Downtown Bathurst Revitalization Corporation on behalf of several donors from the community.

"We had Canada Revenue Agency that donated. Their employeesraised money and donated over $5,000. We had Money Mart that donated $2,500, and different businesses, even the general public were donating throughout the last couple months," said Chris Daigle, DBRC coordinator.

"After seeing the images of what happened...it was a very emotional time," said Daigle.

Three buildings affected by the fire have been demolished, including theformer Bank of Montreal site, which many had hoped could be savedfor its historic value.

One structure, the Christie building, which housed offices including the Bathurst Red Cross, is still standing, but damaged beyond repair.