Calling it bed bug and cockroach infested, Saskatoon’s Fire Chief says the state of the City Centre Inn and Suites is deplorable. Chief Morgan Hackl says in his career he has never shut down a facility in this manner nor descended with fire inspectors on a property, to the degree they have here, in order to determine what is awry. He describes it as imminent risk to those living there compounded by the number of people.

Imminent risk includes locked exit doors. The Fire Chief says there are two means of egress on the second floor of a property, at 610 Idylwyld Drive North.

“One is the stairwell, which the stairwells are in need of repair, they’re unsafe. And then the other is through doors that take you through a hallway to the other side of the building, cause its external walkways and stairwells. Those exit doors and egress doors are screwed and locked shut.”

He says there are combustible materials next the building, they found a large number of smoke alarms inoperable or not present and one of the second floor suites where someone is currently living, the plumbing and raw sewage is leaking into the suite below, where someone else is also living.

Chief Hackl notes there are two buildings on the property and the largest one is being closed for sure. He says by Thursday at 3 pm the people in those suites will be relocated and they are doing a final analysis on the second building.

The 150 residents who live at the motel, including three children, will be housed in a combination of hotels, shelters or housing units while more permanent homes are sought. On Thursday, teams of fire, health and housing workers will meet with each resident to establish a plan for that individual. Each resident will also be screened for COVID-19.

Immediate hazards have been identified with issues such as:

unsafe and unsanitary conditions

locked exit doors

stairs at risk of collapse

combustible material too close to buildings

inaccessible fire extinguishers

too few and uninspected extinguishers

improper smoke alarm records

failure to maintain fire alarm systems

The owner of the City Centre Inn and Suites has been ordered to remedy 34 deficiencies under the Property Maintenance and Nuisance Abatement Bylaw; and 27 deficiencies under the National Fire Code of Canada.