Windsor man displaced twice since 2022 hopes this time his home is permanent

A resident of 333 GlengarryAvenue who was displaced, along with his two dogs, by the fire last week was also put out of his housing when a similar situation unfolded at 1616 Ouelletteat the end of 2022.

"This is the second time I've been through this," Jarrod Lefler told the CBC.

"I know the city's working its hardest, but there's a lot of unknowns."

Up until Tuesday,Lefler called the eighthfloor of Wheelton Manor home. He's been out of the building sinceThursday, when a fire caused some major damage on the seventhfloor.

He, along with the others on his floor and the seventhfloor, hadbeen sleeping and eating at the WFCU centre since then.

"There was smoke everywhere and I couldn't even see across the hall," said Lefler.

"I lost mymedicine, I left my glasses 'cause we got out," he said. "I was expecting to go back in but they wouldn't let us back in because, obviously, it's just too much damage and you've got to be safe."

It is a situation reminiscent of his stay at an emergency shelter set up by the Red Cross in November of 2022 when the heat and electricity stopped working properly at 1616 Ouellettealthough that stay was much longer.

"This was six days but last time it was 30... you know? So I can do six."

CBCNews spoke with him at the time and he was concerned about having a place to go.

"I don't think it's fair," he said after finding out they had just a few hours to clear out.

"I have dogs.I'm on disability.I don't have any place to go."

This time around, he says that city staff and Red Cross did a fantastic jobatthe shelter taking care of him and his dogs.

"I told the Red Cross guy 'I love you but I never want to see you again,'" he said.

Leflersays heand his dogsare being put up at a new apartment just a few buildings down at 395 Glengarry. He hopes this time, it's permanent.

"I never want to do this again."

Nowhere to go

Gary Allard says he doesn't know the cause of the fire that broke out in the building but he says it started in his apartment.

"My apartment was the first to go up in flames, then it just spread from there," he said.

He escaped through the buildingwith his dog Scrappy Doo, but he says he wasn't able to find his second dog, DonnieBrasco, before getting out.

"I lost him in the smoke and he passed away," he said.

Allardsaid he spent three days in the hospital following the fire for smoke inhalation but he feels fine now. He addsthat the Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation (WECHC) will not be providing him with a new place to live.

"I only have him now and we need a place to live, so any help would be much appreciated," saidAllard, who says he was inthat apartment for the last four years.

When asked about Allard's case, NolanGoyette, who is chief tenant services officer for WECHC, said hecould not comment on specific cases.

On Tuesday,Goyette said that everybodywho stayed at the WFCUCentre and was a client of WECHC would be getting permanent or temporary accommodations until their units could be repaired and those that hadn't checked in yet would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

However, he did also confirm that there was one resident who would not be receiving accommodationand that a plan had been made with that tenant to go to a shelter.

Allard said he was not able to stay at a shelter in downtown because they don't accept pets.

"I don't know what I'm going to do."