Donations start to pour in for people displaced by Charlottetown apartment building fire

Prince Edward Islanders and the local business community are now stepping up to help the people displaced by a fire that destroyed a Charlottetown apartment building overnight Monday.

Around 40 tenants lost many of their belongings in the fire that levelled the complex at 6Elena Court,near theintersection of the bypass highway and St. Peters Road in East Royalty.

From food, clothing andsmall furniture items to pet supplies andstorage space, several P.E.I. businesses are now tryingto fill some of the gaps until the affected residents can find places to stay and start to rebuild their lives.

Erika Harvey lives in a different building onElena Court. She works for the Stratford auto shop JustJoes, which owner Joe Sawler allowed her to use as a drop-off point for donations.

Harvey said losing her home to a fireis her worst fear, and she would want someone to help her if she was in the same situation.

"These are my neighbours," she said. "It just broke my heart."

Harvey said the community response has been strong and there have beena lot of donations already.

Here's how the business community is supporting the victims of a Charlottetown apartment building blaze

4 months ago

Duration 4:00

Some P.E.I. companies are banding together to assist the people displaced by Tuesday's apartment complex fire in Charlottetown by providing them with some basic necessities. CBC's Stacey Janzer spoke with Erika Harvey and Joe Sawler of JustJoes Automotive Repair, Kyle Richard from U-Haul, and Blue Ribbon Pet Supplies' Colin Scales to find out what items have already been donated, what's needed, and why they're trying to help.

U-Haulin Charlottetown has volunteered a storage unit to hold the donated items. The company said it would open a second locker if the first one fills up.

The unit will be open, so affected residents can stop by and take what they need with no questions asked.

"This morning's been a little bit crazy. Joe's office is getting smaller by the minute," Harvey said.

"It's very P.E.I."

Harvey hopes the apartment building's landlord or the affected residents will reach out to talk about anyspecific itemsthey need.

Helping displaced pets

Colin Scales, owner of Blue Ribbon Pet Supplyin Charlottetown,also wanted to helpthe tenants and some of their four-legged companions.

The apartments in 6 Elena Court werepet-friendly, so Blue Ribbonhas donated supplies to four dog owners and a few cat owners so far.

He also sent cat food and litter boxes tothe U-Haul storage unit, and his shop in Charlottetown hasdog food, treatsand toys available.

"A lot of people have reached out, actually for their friends and family members," Scales said. "So I think some [tenants]are still kinda nervous and not sure what to do yet."

Scales said his business "always has money set aside for things like this," and his first thought after hearing about the fire was "how can I help?"

The Red Cross has provided the displaced residents withplaces to stay, food and clothing for up to 72 hours.

There's no update on the cause of the fire.