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Residents fleeing flames said the fire alarm was silent.
Instead, men living at a downtown Windsor sober house said they were only jolted awake early Wednesday morning after someone began shouting, “FIRE!”
By the time they were alerted, the flames had already advanced, forcing them to escape through plumes of thick black smoke.
Twenty-two men are now displaced from the scorched Launch Pad Recovery Centre — a faith-based sober-living program located on Ouellette Avenue near Hanna Street — merely two months after it opened its doors.
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Launch Pad Recovery Centre president John Button told the Star that “somebody has to take responsibility.
“Somebody could have died without the fire alarms going off in this building,” said Button.
“The tragedy and the trauma it has caused these guys is horrific.”
Radu Vandenbroere, a 28-year-old resident who moved into a room on the first floor three weeks ago, said he was startled awake around 3 a.m. by someone yelling.
“I opened my door and watched a fireball fly past me,” said Vandenbroere.
“I thought I was dreaming, so I shut the door really quickly and opened it up after a couple of minutes. The whole hallway was completely black and filled with smoke, you couldn’t see anything. The fire alarms weren’t even going off.
“I ran through it all and just hoped I made it out. It’s hard when it’s all black smoke and the lights are off. You can’t see anything.”
Vandenbroere was among the group of residents who made it to safety. However, when they realized one man was still trapped inside the burning building, another resident ran back into the inferno to rescue him. The rescued resident remains in the hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation.
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The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Windsor Police Service and Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal.
Under the Ontario Fire Code, landlords are responsible to ensure working smoke alarms are installed and maintained in their rental properties.
Button said the downtown location is supposed to act as a transitional space for men beginning their sobriety journey, before advancing to a “graduate” program at the Dougall Avenue location, which launched in 2020.
The downtown location had 30 rooms that were rented out to members of the sober living program for $600 per month.
Button only received the keys to the building at the end of April, When he returned to the centre again Thursday, he said what had once been a comfortable living space for the residents was now completely scorched and coated in black soot.
“We give them a place to live and call home, and then this situation happens,” he said.
“They’re going to lose everything and they don’t even know it.”
Ahead of a new location for the program being found, Button said the residents have moved to the Dougall Avenue location. However, due to limited space, some overflow residents are camping in tents in the backyard.
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Shortly after the fire on Wednesday, he posted on the Launch Pad Recovery Centre Facebook page, requesting donations of tents, blow-up mattresses, and hygiene products that are urgently needed.
Despite the circumstances, Button said programming continues uninterrupted, to ensure residents “can stay clean.
“We’re going to make it through because we’re here together as a brotherhood, a team,” he said.
“We’re here for each other, so that’s how we win.”
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During his escape, Vandenbroere severely burned his fingertips on a red-hot doorknob. However, the burns are not what remains most vividly in his memory from that night.
“The first night after all this happened, I couldn’t even sleep because whenever I close my eyes I keep seeing that door open with that fireball just going past my door,” he said.
“So it’s going to take some time to desensitize.”
Those interested in assisting can e-transfer donations to the Launch Pad Recovery Centre at
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