House demolished after fire on Pritchard Avenue

Despite a “For Sale” sign remaining on the front lawn, no one will be moving into a vacant house in the 400 block Pritchard Avenue.

That’s after a fire gutted the empty home on Thursday night at around 6 p.m. leaving only one option for the residence: emergency demolition or see it become a hazard with potential for collapse. 

“I’m kind of upset. I would have liked to purchase that house,” said Albert Mondor who lived there in the early 2000s.

Now living nearby, Mondor said it was frustrating to see the house fall into disrepair, stressing that with the proper work, it would have had great potential. 

“A lot of people could have lived in that house, but the landlords won’t fix them up,” he said. 

Mondor isn’t alone in his frustration. Doug Bain, who lives next door, feels the house has been a problem.

His home was damaged, and his family evacuated as a result of the fire, and while standing in front of the home — parts of it literally collapsing — he said it’s been vacant for roughly a year. 

“We’ve been in my house almost 15 years and we’ve seen people come and go … We’ve had Bear Clan come. The police have come many times,” he said. 

CityNews made attempts to reach out to the owner of the building, but a response was not immediately received. 

However, Coun. Ross Eadie, who represents the Mynarski ward where the house is located, says the fire emphasizes the need for increased funding in the inner city, saying the owner has been contacted to clean up the remaining mess. 

 “The deterioration of the inner city is not good for the whole city,” he stressed. 

He says many residents in the neighbourhood struggle to afford rent, let alone purchase and repair properties. 

Eadie says to address the problem, Daniel McIntrye ward Councillor Cindy Gilroy and himself are set to propose a core-area initiative to target the underlying challenges facing the inner city. 

“It’s in the best interest of the city, for all of us, to work towards making these properties liveable and buildings affordable,” he said. “Not just affordable to rent, but affordable to purchase.”