Back in June of this year my apartment complex burnt down. Mountain Village Apartments. Sixteen or seventeen units were destroyed and two people died. It was truly a horrible experience. From what I was told some families had to jump off second-floor balconies and higher. None of us could even access the remnants of our apartments for over a month, and while my family and I were lucky in comparison to others, it was still an awful experience. To this day I think about the young boy whom died, as I had just seen him playing earlier that day.

After a fire, and without any insurance, leaves people in a pretty vulnerable spot. From what I understand only two of the units had insurance. We did not have it. With the rising rental prices in North Vancouver, every one of us victims feared the future. I was lost and a mess, while also having to show my daughters strength. I could not imagine what the father and son who lost their mother/wife and brother/son would be going through.

I hope the father and son are doing okay, I wish them everything good.

But then something amazing and wonderful happened. Something that actually changed my view of people. The whole community of Lynn Valley and the District of North Vancouver started donating and giving. My family was given an apartment for free for six months, Charities gave us food and shelter, the Province of British Columbia ensured we were all taken care of. Eric Miura and the Lynn Valley Lions Club even ensured we had furniture. Even my closest friends started to help.

First the North Shore Emergency Management team ensured we all had food and shelter. 

Then the Lynn Valley Lions started collecting donations, and set up a support hub.

Someone setup a Go Fund Me page.

Darwin Construction gave us an apartment for six Months and other building owners gave other residents free housing.

Mountain Village Apartments has been giving priority to fire victims and keeping its rent stable, and many have now returned.

Many companies around North Vancouver and Lynn Valley (Stongs, Save-On Foods, White Spot, and many more) gave us gift cards.

There were also many heroes.

My landlord Steve and his wife Kay. Kay basically kicked in doors trying to get people. The groundskeeper and Steve also saved people, along with helping reduce the risk of more fire. Kay is my hero, I could only hope to be so heroic.

North Shore Lions Jeanette Duey and Eric Miura. Jeanette took care of the community in a way I have never seen. Eric provided us with furniture, support, and a long list of other services.

The Lynn Valley Fire Department. These people actually go in to burning buildings, while most of us run away.

There were many, many volunteers from around the community. They were primarily from Lynn Valley. Some names that stand out were Mark Howard, Rob Webb, and Chris Litchford. There were also the Argyles Pipers Football Club families that dropped furniture off at our place. Also Kristen who ran the Hub, I've never seen anyone care about people so much.

A few friends helped by giving me a quiet place (with computers) to process what had just happened (Maxwell and Michael). I can't forget Mikey Martinescu who dealt with much of my nonsense during that period. Some people were also surprisingly supportive such as Marta from Ignite, along with Hung from UBC. Hung basically apologized for not having enough room in his house for my family without me even suggesting I needed anything.

There are probably many people I didn't mention.

Thank you to all of you! I wish you everything good. Thank you for existing.

Further to this, Darwin Construction, may have inadvertently found a solution to the housing crisis that Vancouver and surrounding area is dealing with. Rather than kicking out all the tenants in a building to rebuild, the company is erecting modular housing, and relocating their current occupants to it. This allows the people in the building to remain in their community and keep their same rental rate, while also allowing Darwin to build modern buildings with up-to-date fire codes.

But, there is one thing I need to say. With all of the fires this year, and with the effects of global warming becoming clear we need to address an important issue. Some of the fire alarms in the buildings around the district of North Vancouver have been grandfathered in by the district. Some of these alarms are over 100 years old. I believe there needs to be a game plan to replace these. This is not the landlords’ fault or any particular person’s fault or even the district’s fault. The fire chief told us the reason the building-wide alarms (not the apartment smoke detectors) did not go off is because they melted. The fire alarms were so old that each building was not connected either. So if a fire was in one part of the building, alarms in the other parts did not go off. Fire alarms should go off if their wires melt, that is the norm. (I was a systems analyst and I would call that a flawed system)