Hundreds left without heat, power at downtown Calgary apartment building
Having to walk up and down dozens of flights of stairs in the darkness, with no heat, water or electricity is certainly not the way hundreds of Calgarians imagined spending their Christmas Eve.
A pipe burst on Tuesday in the parkade area of the Westview Heights apartment building in the 800 block of Eighth Avenue S.W., which shut down access to elevators in the 41-floor building.
There are 297 residential units from floors 12 to 41 – all of which also lost heat, water and electricity late Wednesday evening due to flooding. Building management said heat and electricity had been restored at 5 p.m. Friday.
“The first 15 floors are completely soaked with water with four feet of water in the basement, so that’s been exhausting going up and down the stairs,” said Derek Lester who lives on the 39th floor on Friday morning.
“There’s no lights to see in the stairwells and the parking garage has two inches of ice, wall to wall, so since 11 p.m. last night we have been without heat or water and no one is telling us anything.”
Don Habib, the leasing manager for Mayflower Ventures, says his team worked around the clock to restore power to more than 300 residents living in the building.
He confirmed to CTV News the frozen pipe was fixed but there were still electrical issues.
“We have a semi that's coming down with a generator and we just took up some batteries to our generators on the roof, so we're getting everything in line and we're working together to get this problem solved,” Habib said.
“We've aligned with the Sandman hotel and we have rooms available over there for our tenants to go to right now. We also have four other hotels that work with the Sandman if need be so we're doing everything we can to make sure our attendants are comfortable.”
Hundreds of residents at a downtown Calgary apartment building have been left without heat, hot water and electricity.
The situation was especially difficult for people like Lawrence Tarrant, who lives in a unit with his elderly mother and takes care of her.
“My mother is on oxygen, an air concentrator that supplies oxygen while she’s sleeping or moving around but she also uses cylinder air tanks but when it’s cold they don’t last long,” he said.
Tarrant says he’s grateful for the help of property management along with the Calgary Fire Department which has aided in the assistance of getting residents to more comfortable locations.
Some residents had no choice but to stay put for the holidays and wait for utilities to be fixed.
That’s the case for Annalae Biclar, who has to climb up and down 35 floors a few times each day just to take her two dogs out for walks.
“We are so sore right now and these are just young dogs, so they're tough to deal with,” she said
Annalae Biclar has to climb up and down 35 floors a few times each day just to take her two dogs out for walks.
Meanwhile, other building tenants like Jaimin Raval have never experienced anything like this.
Raval immigrated to Canada from India just three months ago and was surprised by the effects of Calgary’s extreme cold weather.
“I don’t know what to do, it’s just so crazy,” he said.
“They’re telling us the elevators might not work for a couple days still and climbing 13 floors to my room is difficult. Back in India it was 46 C when I left and now with this cold and without heat or utilities it’s hard to survive.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Town of Fort Nelson, B.C., ordered to evacuate due to wildfire
The entire town of Fort Nelson, B.C., as well as the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has been ordered to evacuate due to an out-of-control wildfire.
Snowbirds in Vancouver for puck-drop flyby as Canucks face Oilers
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be performing a flyover across downtown Vancouver at the start of tonight's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Video shows naked raccoon catching B.C. family by surprise
When Marvin Henschel spotted a strange and hairless creature wandering through a front lawn in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, he could barely believe his eyes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Out-of-control wildfire prompts evacuation alert for Fort McMurray, Saprae Creek Estates Friday night
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.