Fire forces about 50 tenants from Miramichi apartment

About 50 people were displaced from their homes Saturday after a fire in their Miramichi apartment building.

A40-unit apartment building was evacuated after a fire in a lower level meant that power to the structure had to be cut as a safety precaution, the Canadian Red Cross reported.

Dan Bedell, a Red Cross spokesperson, said thefire started in one unit in the early evening.

"Apparently the fire was mostly confined to that one unit and perhaps a little bit to an adjacent room," said Bedell.

"There was smoke through the building the bigger issue is that for safety reasons power was shut off to the entire building which required that everyone leave."

The apartment building named Skyway Lodge is located on Cole Crescent. It is adjacent to a building that was evacuated last month over safety concerns.

No vacancy

The Red Cross had a difficult time trying to find temporary accommodation for the tenants.

This weekend is the Miramichi Irish Festival and there was little hotel vacancy in the area.

"Fortunately we were made an offer by the Miramichi Rodd Hotel which is on the same side of the river a couple of kilometers away," said Bedell.

"They did make a couple of conference rooms available to us. So the Red Cross set up an emergency shelter using those two rooms at the hotel."

Thirty-seven tenants from 29 units are staying at the temporary shelter.

Bedell said power is expected to be restored tomorrow and most residents can go home.

He said the Red Cross will continue to offer help to tenants whose apartments were damaged in the fire.