Amber Winston and her dog Dabbin were displaced from the Thompson River Manor after a fire on Saturday, May 26, 2018. Winston has temporary accommodation at a local motel until next week and has been struggling to find a place to live.

(KAREN EDWARDS / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - After a cooking fire engulfed a North Shore apartment last month, Amber Winston says finding a new place to live for herself and her dog on short — unexpected — notice has taken a toll on her health and work life.

Winston says she's had to postpone starting a new job and reschedule a surgery to try and find a new home. She's one of about 40 people left displaced from an apartment fire on May 26 at the Thompson River Manor at 975 Tranquille Rd.

The Kamloops woman, who had been living at the apartment for eight months, says she was fast asleep when she was awoken by her boyfriend around 4:30 a.m.

“My boyfriend heard the alarm and he thought it was my fan,” Winston says.

The fire alarm was so faint they almost didn’t hear it.

“I got up to turn the fan off and my boyfriend says ‘there is still something going off’ and what do you know, it was the bell from a fire,’’ she says.

When they opened their door, they saw black smoke coming up from the stairwell.

About 40 people were evacuated during a fire at the Thompson River Manor on May 26, 2018.

(KAREN EDWARDS / iNFOnews.ca)

"I don’t think anybody believed it was happening,” she says, adding that most residents assumed they would be able to return to their apartments shortly after the fire department left. “Like we all locked our doors when we left.”

After Winston and her boyfriend managed to escape with their dog, her boyfriend ran back into the apartment to check on a pregnant neighbour who they thought might not have heard the fire alarm going off.

"Luckily she wasn't home and everyone got out OK," Winston says.

According to Kamloops Fire Rescue, the fire was started by a woman on the second floor who was cooking and left the stove unattended. Three suites were completely destroyed by the fire.

Kamloops fire investigator Ray Webster says the building was inspected annually and was last checked in 2017. He says the building was up to date with the B.C. Fire Code for residential buildings.

"All the things we check like emergency lights, exit signs, as far as I'm concerned were working," Webster says. The building does not have a sprinkler system.

Winston says a couple days after the fire, residents were allowed back into some areas of the building to gather some belongings. Most of the damage in her unit was from smoke.

“Pretty much everything except my electronics were destroyed,” she says. "The second floor was the worst, everything was just black."

Residents displaced by the apartment fire were initially brought to the McArthur Island Sports Centre and then later moved to a local motel. Winston says she's been told it could be up to a month before residents are allowed to live in the apartment building again.

Winston along with other residents have been working with the Canadian Red Cross and ASK Wellness to help with housing. They've been told their accommodation at the motel would end sometime next week and finding affordable housing in the area has been challenging.

"That apartment building we were in, it's a lot cheaper compared to other places here," Winston says. "Places I am looking at now are almost double the amount of what I was paying there."

The property manager is giving residents their damage deposits back and may reimburse some of their rent. But even with some reimbursement, Winston says she's struggling financially to make up costs associated with the fire so has set up a GoFundMe webpage to help her buy some furniture and pay for pet supplies.

"It's taken a toll on me," she says.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Karen Edwards or call (250) 819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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