A year after fatal fire at Vancouver's Winters Hotel, survivor files proposed class-action lawsuit

A resident of the historic Winters Hotel that burned down one year ago has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the City of Vancouver and a non-profit that operated the hotel as low-income housing.

The Winters Hotel, which was built in 1907, was gutted by a fire on April 11, 2022. The fire was sparked by unattended candles and led to the displacement of over 70 residents.

Two people — Dennis Guay and Mary Ann Garlow — were found dead, and five others had to be taken to hospital in the aftermath of the fire at the hotel, which later had to be demolished.

One of the survivors is seeking costs and damages from the city and Atira Property Management, the non-profit that operated the Winters Hotel as a single-room occupancy (SRO) housing building.

Jennifer Hansma, who lived at the Winters for five years, says her life has been "hell" after she was displaced by the fire.

"I want accountability for what has happened," she told CBC News. "I want them to say, yeah, it was their fault."

"I want them to know what it's like to be us for the last year, how many of us have panic attacks and how our anxiety is up through the roof. How most of us don't sleep anymore."

In the lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court last Thursday, Hansma alleges that the city and non-profit did not ensure the Winters building met fire safety standards and that it was due to the "perceived lack of power" of the low-income residents there.

"The City's interactions with the Winters Hotel and its residents were influenced by a similar perception," the notice of civil claim reads. "It did not enforce fire safety regulations to the same standards it did in buildings with more politically, economically, and socially powerful residents."

Hansma also alleges that Vancouver Fire Rescue Services were negligent in not switching on the building's sprinkler system at the time of the fire.

None of the claims have been tested in court, and the claim has not yet been certified as a class-action suit.

The City of Vancouver did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last year, three days before the blaze, firefighters had responded to another accidental fire inside a different room within the SRO. The sprinkler system extinguished the flames and was subsequently disabled.

The sprinklers had not been serviced or reactivated by the time of the second fire on April 11, firefighters said at the time.

In the absence of a working sprinkler system, a fire watch was established to provide patrols and notify emergency responders of any new fires.

Supervisory staff from Atira, running the fire watch in the Winters building, were the first to discover the fire.

Date for inquest not set

Months after the fire, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth ordered a coroner's inquest into the two deaths at the hotel, saying a jury would hear from witnesses under oath and possibly make recommendations. A date for that inquest has not been set.

Atira declined to comment on the civil case but issued a public statement on the one-year anniversary of the fatal fire.

"We urge the government to commence the inquest it called for last year and to speed up its SRO replacement program," the statement read. "We must fix this broken system that continues to put people made most vulnerable at the greatest risk."

Hansma, who lost her cat and multiple family heirlooms in the fire, said it's not a coincidence that she filed her lawsuit around the one-year anniversary of the blaze.

"I wanted to do it this day so nobody forgets about us," she said. "We may be low-income, but we are people too, and we deserve the right to live a comfortable life.

"My cat was my best friend, and he was very young, and he didn't need to die. And he doesn't have a voice, so I'm his voice. I'm the voice for Mary and Dennis … and everybody else."

Advocates ask for answers

Daniel Lambert, another survivor of the fire, said that the residents of the Winters were "like a family" who lost two people last year.

"This hurts me so bad, you know?" he told a rally near the building's original location.

Vince Tao, an organizer with the Our Homes Can't Wait coalition, said that residents of the Winters were not informed that they were on fire watch before the April 11 blaze broke out.