Displaced Niagara Falls condo residents fear homelessness months after fatal fire

A Niagara Falls fire that left one woman dead and 20 others displaced back in May is still leaving many unanswered questions and some facing homelessness.

Some of the residents of the Courtyard Condos on Drummond Road in Niagara Falls remain displaced five months after the major fire.

With insurance money running out and no concrete date to move back in, some are left wondering how they will continue to live day to day.

“We will probably be homeless at the end of February,” said Sheree Deverson.

Deverson lived with her mom on the second floor of the condo building before the fire in May. Thursday was the first day back in her home since then.

“I’m worried about my mom because she’s a senior. It’s very stressful, very overwhelming. We don’t know where we’re going to live pretty soon.”

Right now, Sheree and her mom, Linda, have temporary housing away from the building. Lack of information and timelines remain the main source of frustration.

“The only thing they’ve done in six months is gutted the condos back to the cement wall,” said Linda Deverson. “They’ve ordered new bricks because apparently there’s smoke in the bricks, so they can’t get the smoke out or they’re having trouble getting it out … They told us it would be six to eight weeks before the bricks come.”

The outside of the building looks very similar to how it did the morning after the fire, except it is now boarded up.

“We haven’t had any updates on what’s going on with the building,” said Fred Schwarz, another displaced resident. “There’s engineering reports they were waiting on. We’ve been waiting forever.”

Schwarz says his insurance is covering expenses until the end of December. This is concerning, he says, because the last update he received on a possible move-in date is early next summer.

“My insurance runs out at the end of December. After that, it’s out of pocket. So I have to dig into my savings or whatever I have to do to live.”

Kelly Kitney says residents are looking for clearer communication.

“Whoever it’s supposed to come from, whether it’s the management company, whether it’s the insurance, the contractors, we all need to be receiving correct, relevant information [on] how this is moving forward and when we’re going to be able to move back home,” Kitney said.

CHCH News reached out to Cannon Greco Management for comment and the company did not respond.

Late Thursday afternoon, one of the displaced residents sent a copy of a letter the management company sent out, which says structural repairs will be complete by March 2027 and then the next phase of rebuilding will begin.

WATCH MORE: One dead, around 20 displaced in Niagara Falls apartment fire