The onsite investigation into the fire at Westcourt Place in downtown Windsor is now complete.
Windsor Fire Chief Steve Laforet said it could be several months before the Ontario Fire Marshal determines a cause.
"There's no set timeline. It really depends on what they've discovered, the evidence that they seized, if any," said Laforet. "From today's perspective, the site investigation has completed. That doesn't mean that there isn't going to be work in the upcoming days and weeks to finalize everything. So we could be waiting months for an actual report."
The building has been officially turned over to the owners and the insurance providers. The owners have indicated to the city it could take upwards of two weeks to complete the work that needs to be done for occupancy to resume.
"Now that the building has been released, requests for access to the building cannot come through the fire department or the City of Windsor. They are managed entirely by the owners and the property manager," said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens.
The owners have agreed to pay for motel accommodations for 30 residents who had been using the emergency shelter over the last three days and have been unable to find their own accommodations. The emergency shelter at the WFCU Centre is now closed and regular programming will resume immediately.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated that "any" resident who had utilized the emergency shelter would have hotel accommodations paid for. However, this was not the case as only 30 residents who were unable to find their own accommodations will have their hotel stay paid for. The correction has been made in the article above. BlackburnNews.com apologizes for the error.
