After nearly 2 years, Surrey fire survivors return home

Its been 18 months since Fred Omari was forced to leave his Surrey condo after a massive fire ripped through eight units in the building, while sprinklers flooded more than a dozen more.

No one was hurt or killed in the blaze, but the forced evacuation — and destruction of personal items — has haunted some residents.

"It felt like the whole world was coming down," said Omari, 79, who was evacuated after his unit flooded. He and his wife rented an apartment after the fire.

The residential building has since been redone, and Omari and his wife finally got their long-awaited notice to move back in.

But when they opened the door, they say the unit was far from finished. They said some appliances were not installed and the oven wasn't yet delivered.

Leftover building material was strewn on the balcony and there were noticeable construction deficiencies in the renovation..

'Welcome home'

Omari received a move-in notice several weeks ago from The Wynford Group, the building's management company, saying the unit would be ready May 20.

"They told us 'welcome home,'" he said. "[So] we gave notice, where we were staying, that on May 20th we'd be moving out."

But Omari said he arrived to find that several appliances, including his fridge and dishwasher, had not been installed. The unit didn't have an oven, and he came across numerous construction deficiencies throughout his unit, including unsealed tiles and crooked cabinets. Material from the rebuild was strewn across his balcony.

"We come inside and everything is a mess," he said. "I had to haul everything downstairs."

He said he has contacted his insurance company, CMW Insurance Services Ltd., regarding the missing appliance and has yet to receive word back. CBC News reached out to CMW Insurance and the Wynford group but did not receive a response by deadline.

'Moving is stressful'

According to JBR Construction, the company contracted to rebuild the complex, unit deficiencies are common after a major renovation and the problems cited in Omari's unit will eventually get fixed.

"We go for the next two weeks fixing people's deficiencies," said JBR owner operator Jeff Kipling. "If there's any little things that they find that we might have missed, that's a normal process."

Kipling said the construction company has taken note of Omari's unit deficiencies and is working with him and other residents to fix the odds and ends.

But another building resident, James Donovan, said the rebuild was satisfactory.

"In a project of this size, you're going to see deficiencies," said Donovan, a handyman. "Renovations always offer different challenges, because you're building on top of work that was pre-existing.

"I think they did a fair job — there's a few things that need a touch-up here and there but nothing unexpected."

"Moving is a stressful time," he added. "Inconvenience just adds to the stress, but everything I've seen this far has been passable. I think JBR should be commended for nailing it — they got us back in here when they said they would."