Allowed to return to apartment that had fire:
I was allowed back into my unit that had the fire in December 2024 before Christmas. It was a mess.
Things were tossed and put wherever. Stuff was missing (my freezer, mini fridge shelves, security camera, my sister's birthday presents, etc) and that's just what I notied. The restoration company the city hired for that apartment lied to me. Denied ever touching my freezer, then they changed it to they moved it to in front of the kitchen and had a very bad blurry photo as "proof". And blamed the window people who installed the new windows. After almost going to the police for theft and this ridiculous charade, the restoration people said they did in fact know where my freezer was, they threw it out and claimed it was full of moldy food, maggots, and flies. All because they forgot to throw away the food in my freezer like they were suppose to. They had the nerve to blame me instead of just accepting fault, by saying they didn't see it because my stuff was in the way and it was in the closet. They obviously never opened the closet as you could see the tall white freezer right away. When I said that, they changed it again to how they didn't go through every room in the house, and excuses excuses.
No I was not reimbursed by them for the freezer that THEY were reponsible for by not doing their job.
They unneccessarily moved all my stuff off my fridge, including my mini fridge and toaster oven, and onto the floor. They tried to lie and say they never moved them, or put the fridge where the falsely claimed the freezer was. The kitchen was all rummaged through and tossed around with a bunch of stuff thrown in the sink. My toaster oven went from great condition to looking like someone from the restoration company stomped on it to cave in the top.
Damage:
I found soot covered items all over, but mostly shoved in the closet. It looks like black watered down mud smeared across stuff. It was originally all over my floors, but they said there was water damage in the halls and in the closet so the company went in (without my permission or supervision) and worked on it. Thus where the issue of all the missing stuff happened, and whatever else they did in there. I wonder if they thought the camera recorded them and that's why it was missing. Nothing was safe from the smoke, it smelt awful, and there was stuff like a suitcase that went from black to grey. It was disgusting. Everything had a thin layer on it from the smoke. Even my drawer of utensils smelt so damn awful I could smell it through my mask it made me gag, and I didn't even keep those to boil clean. All my items made my eyes and throat burn even with attempts to try to wipe off electronics that worked.
The restoration company insisted on there not having any damage in my unit, which was completely contradictory to what I had seen, smelt, felt, and what they had said they had to do for the water damage. I don't understand why there's so much need to deny or lie or make up things. Maybe it's because I didn't have to hire them to dispose of anything, (my sister helped because I couldn't be in the building.). It just makes them look really bad to me, and unprofessional and untrustworthy. I did not hire them, I did not give consent to that company being in my unit, and my insurance didn't hire them. No one in my building was allowed to choose who we wanted to go into our units. Many people were charged well over half of their insurance by the restoration company to deal with the "damage" (quotes because many people weren't allowed to see it and assess), so they didn't have enough to replace the items that were damaged. I didn't think that was right. They should've been allowed to do it themselves like they wanted, or to hire another company at a better price.
Our units and items were held hostage. And there was a fear of making it prolonged so they couldn't get in to see how bad it was and get the sentimentals they weren't able to grab before, or important documents. For me it was my court documents for my case against the hospital.
The company was so stubborn and secretive that they wouldn't even take a photo of a serial number I needed from my fridge since they wouldn't allow me to go in even with them.
Window People:
I had a e-bike that was literally thrown onto the ground, so hard the stopper burst through the tent it was in. The petals were folded, which is really hard to do, and if the pedals couldn't do that it would've 100% been broken. Even the handle bar got broken, I'm hoping it can be fixed. The bike makes this weird metal grinding sounds it really shouldn't make. This time this WAS the work of the window people, as it was on the balcony where only the window people needed to go. They didn't give any shits. No I haven't been reimbursed for the e-bike they damaged either. I contacted the city worker I needed to, and nodda.
Health Risk:
Burning eyes, nose and throat are instant the moment I walk into the building. This even with a mask every single time I go in. I'm not the only one, my family has come to try to help and they too had instant eye burning. My mom had it the worse where she wasn't even in the building for more than 20 minutes and she almost had to be hospitalized. The effects of being in there lasted for over a week for her. She said she could feel pain in her back where her lungs were, got dizzy, couldn't breathe, pains, and more.
For me I almost passed out twice the day my mom came. It was because I thought if I kept it under 3 hours I could go in twice in one day, and that day I learned how very wrong I was. It takes several hours for the effects to pass after leaving the building. I will feel like shit all day long, coughing, and feeling nauseous, faint, and my eyes and throat won't stop burning. It also feels like someone took a chemical concoction and spritzed it into my mouth and lungs so everytime I breathe I'm exhaling that same chemical burning I was smelling from the building. It leaves this feeling similar to what you get in your chest when you're developing a chest infection. And it brings on a cough that thankfully goes away the same day. Strangely enough whatever is in that building is so bad that it made me start peeing bubbles on and off whenever I went in there. It legit scared me, sent me to Google, thinking maybe my kidneys were failing or something, only to have my mom confirm it was due to the building because the day she went with me, she also peed bubbles and she said she never has done that before.
The walls of the building, including in each unit are covered in soot. They didn't bother doing the basics of washing them with soap and water. Soot is dangerous and toxic.
I'm legit scared for my health. That building was so old it still had asbestos in it and when the fire collapsed the roof and floors it got released all throughout the building. I noticed since being out of the building for these few months, I haven't had the same health issues I did while living there. I first noticed when I was living in the hotel a few weeks in I realized I was sleeping flat without a bundle of pillows and a propped up bed on a slant. I was sleeping without waking up choking and coughing unable to breathe. I was eating without choking on my food or having swallowing issues. Even my neck where they diagnosed me with a thryoid nodule looked less pronounced. It made me realize, before this fire the building was making me sick. I don't know if it was whatever party drugs the previous tenant was using and allowing their guests to use that apparently dripped down the walls. Or if it was the ridiculous amount of cat urine that was so bad they had to tear up the floors to replace them. But I could still smell that cat pee from the moment I moved in, especially strong on hot summer days. They gas lit me when I tried to complain about my closet smelling of cat pee and living room and it making me cough. They still do that for complaints, or straight up lie even when there's documented evidence. I have no doubt that building was what started my health decline, causing my inflammed thyroid on each side and the nodule as well. I never once had any of these issues until moving in, and they got so much worse. Slowly killing me. Eating was russian roulette I never knew what was going to choke me. The soft mushrooms, the slides oranges? Soup? I'm so happy I don't have those issues anymore, but I know they will come back if I go there, because when I was going too many days in a row (even with a mask) I had a couple days where I had the swallowing issue again. It scared the living shit out of me because I want my health back, I don't want it to decline again.
I only have 2 more months with the lease from the temporary place I had to sign with or be homeless. And now I'm stuck between either be homeless, or go to a early grave if I cannot find alternative housing before then. I absolutely do not want to put my life at risk at the building that had the fire (which they are still having me pay for even though it's not livable or safe). Rent is too ridiculous I can't afford anywhere. I can't afford the place I'm staying either or I would just stay here since having to live with bugs is better than having to be in a morgue. And I have no idea what sort of ill-effects that building will have on my cat. I hope i don't have to find out.
Mold:
There are many neighbours who have mold issues. The restoration company did the same things to them as they did to me. For me they moved a bunch of soot covered items into my closet. For others it was mold covered items. Someone has mold covering their baseboards because the company didn't bother cleaning them, and they skipped cleaning damp spots so it too grew mold. That neighbour now has really bad breathing problems that make it difficult to live in his unit. However mold isn't listed as a urgent issue under RGI housing so even though these problems aren't created by us, we are the ones to suffer so no one can move even with a doctor's note.
No one with power cares:
I've emailed and called city housing, MPP, health inspector, so many to report the mold, burning, toxic health hazard of a building it is and how it shouldn't be having anyone living there until it's correctly fixed and ready. But no one cares. Either they ignore it (even when others have called) or say they will forward it, etc and never bother. Straight up ghosted over imporant health matters.
Which doesn't surprise me after how they treated me and the rest from that building when we were legit homeless.
It's so sad to see what people get away with while others suffer. Even when we try so hard to stand up for ourselves. Many people living there don't even have heat.
