The cleanup for the massive North Langley condo fire could start as soon as Monday, May 10, according to the developer.
The site is currently covered in piles of charred debris and broken cinder block, as well as the wreckage of construction equipment, including a few pieces of heavy equipment. Even the portable toilets along the edge of the site on 208th Street remain, partly melted by the intense heat.
The April 19 fire tore through the condos, which were under construction on the southeast corner of 208th Street and 80th Avenue in Willoughby.
Clean up is expected to take between 30 to 60 days, and the developer will be working with the construction team and the local authorities throughout the process.
“We are eager to start the rebuild process, but we want to ensure we approach this in the right manner,” said John Rempel, the principal for developer RDG Management.
Some work on the site has already taken place at the behest of the fire department – the three exposed elevator shafts were knocked down on April 30, which was required for safety reasons during the Langley Township Fire Department’s investigation.
READ MORE: Investigators to access site of April 19 Langley condo fire this week
Debris will have to be removed and disposed of at a licensed government facility.
As for the condos and townhouses that were damaged but not destroyed by the fire, the developer said it’s too early to say whether they will be torn down and rebuilt, or if any of them can be repaired. Once that has been determined, the people who pre-purchased the units will hear first, Rempel said.
The heavy construction equipment is the responsibility of the individual contractors who owned it, as are smaller tools and pieces of equipment destroyed in the fire.
The fate of the fourth of the three elevator shafts is unknown, but the three demolished ones will definitely have to be rebuilt after the clean up.
The developer has pledged that the project will be rebuilt after the cleanup.
READ MORE: Langley condo fire spews insulation and other debris over a wide area
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