The 174 men who called the YMCA in downtown Hamilton home face an uncertain future following a multiple-alarm fire that has left the building’s residences uninhabitable.
On Monday, emergency crews scrambled to rescue those living there as visible flame and smoke bellowed from the structure.
The fire left 11 people hospitalized and hundreds more displaced.
READ MORE: 24 people rescued, 11 in hospital after multiple-alarm fire at downtown Hamilton YMCA
In its wake, most have been turned to the facility’s gymnasium, where they spent the night on a cot provided by The Red Cross in what is now a temporary emergency shelter.
However, many residents, some of whom have lived on the upper floors of the YMCA for over a decade, cannot rest easily. The uncertainty of when or if they’ll be able to return weighs heavy on their minds.
“Not knowing is the hardest part,” Andrew Slowley says, one of the displaced few. It was a sentiment echoed by man of the men as they spent the day outside of the YMCA with nowhere else to go.
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According to the YMCA, the damaged residences provide clean, safe, and affordable transitional housing for people who face health and societal challenges—for only $455 a month.
But after Monday’s fire, only about 80 people registered to stay in the temporary shelter in the lower levels of the facility.
“It’s not very comfortable, but it’s fine,” Slowley says, adding that half of the men opted to spend the night on the street instead.
Hamilton Fire Chief David Cunliffe confirmed on Tuesday that only 87 people registered to spend the night following the fire on one of the beds in the shelter.
He says that since then, that number has climbed up to 118.
For now, the fire’s cause and the damage’s extent continue to be investigated.