Fire guts B.C. long-term care facility under construction, triggering evacuations

British Columbia's health minister says a massive fire at the site of a long-term care home under construction in the Okanagan will reset the project, and is "devastating" to seniors in the region. 

The destruction of the 200-bed project is another potential blow to the supply of long-term care beds in B.C. after the government cancelled construction contracts on five projects earlier this year.

The City of Penticton says the fire at 453 Green Avenue was reported around 10 p.m. Wednesday at the construction site for the three-storey wood-frame structure.

The blaze quickly escalated into a three-alarm fire, triggering a response from 60 firefighters.

Health Minister Josie Osborne says the fire will require "coming back with a sense of urgency" to build more long-term care homes quickly. 

The city says crews had to evacuate 16 homes in anticipation of the fire's spread, with four  sustaining damage in the blaze.

No one has been reported injured, but 12 homes remain evacuated as crews note the presence of an unstable crane structure at the site that continues to pose a safety risk.

The city said Thursday morning that crews were on site to assess the situation, with the fire still active in several areas, while the unstable crane hampered suppression efforts. 

The construction of the long-term care home is a partnership between the B.C. government and Kaigo Senior Living.

The project, called the Skaha Seniors Community, was expected to be completed in 2028.

Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma also said the fire was devastating, both for residents who had to evacuate their homes, as well as seniors waiting to move in.

Ma said Kaigo Senior Living had submitted an insurance claim in relation to the fire, but it was unclear how much the claim was worth. 

"Our government will work with them to understand the impacts on the timeline," Ma said, adding that it's too early to understand how the fire will affect the planned 2028 opening.

Ma said the project was about six months into construction, and was considered to be in the early stage, with only the building's framing having been completed. 

"We're committed to ensuring that this project gets built," she said. 

BC Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt has criticized the province for falling short when it comes to the capacity of long-term care homes, and said that seniors are spending more time in hospitals on wait-lists for long-term care beds as demand outpaces supply. 

A January report from his office on long-term care said B.C. saw a five per cent increase in the number of beds since 2019-2020, while the population of seniors over age 65 grew by 19 per cent over that time. 

Levitt said in the report that the province will need 16,000 more long-term care beds in the next 10 years to catch up, adding that the B.C. government has "no plan to meet this demand."

In April, the B.C. government confirmed the cancellation of the Beedie Long-term Care Centre in Delta, as well as long-term care projects in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Kelowna, citing financial constraints. 

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Penticton Fire Department