PORT WELLER RESIDENTS MEETING FOLLOWING FIRE

It was a rowdy night at Grantham Lions Club as Port Weller residents discussed the aftermath of the massive fire at Ssonix Products.

The meeting, held on Jan. 18, got off to a rough start as audience members shouted and interrupted the evenings MC. Ward councillors Bill Phillips and Dawn Dodge then took over to answer questions.

"Sure, we can all agree that this isn't the greatest circumstances to come together, but it is wonderful to see everyone come together and be able to share the grief and all the impact that this incident has caused for all of us," said Dodge.

"We really can't speak to a lot of what happened because it's still under investigation ... I can assure you that our staff are working diligently to make sure that everything is safe for people to stay in their homes, and they're looking toward what we can do in the future, as well as what we're doing right now to make everyone feel safe."

Phillips began his opening statements by thanking the firefighters for their speedy response, and offering condolences to the family of the worker that was killed.

The fire at Ssonix Products on Keefer Road broke out around 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 12.

Residents in the surrounding area were evacuated for most of the day out of an abundance of caution.

One of the main complaints from residents was that in a future evacuation event, there may only be one way out of Port Weller East.

Currently, Port Weller East has a secondary access point using Northrup Crescent from Parkside Drive.

Right now, a subdivision is being built near Parkside, and the developer owns the access. The plan is, as the development progresses, the developer is hoping to build an apartment building that would block that access.

Keeping this access open is what many residents, and the ward councillors, are fighting for.

Phillips said at the meeting on Monday, Jan. 16, council voted to have staff investigate finding a secondary, more permanent way out of Port Weller East.

"(It's) not going to happen next week. It takes time for all this," he said, explaining that the permanent secondary access may not necessarily be Northrup, but they'll find something.

Another problem, he said, was that fire hoses were laying across Broadway, preventing it from being accessed.

"We're going to put another fire hydrant on the east side ... so that no longer will hoses have to go across," he said.

One of the first residents to take the podium addressed the tension in the room, and the frustration felt by residents that it's taking this tragedy to get the city to deal with the exit issue in Port Weller.

"We are surrounded by a fairly significant industrial area. It would be really helpful to have some kind of understanding of the types of industrial materials that we're surrounded (by)," she said.

She also pointed out how lucky they are that this happened while the canal was closed.

A few residents who took the podium expressed confusion as to why the meeting was being held by the residents group, and not the city.

Both councillors said that they wanted to host a meeting for residents on their own, but they were waiting for more information about what happened in the fire, what caused it, and more information on what will be different moving forward.

Bruno Cacliagi, a Port Weller East resident made a suggestion that was popular with the crowd. He said Port Weller should have its own fire station.

"We cannot rely on emergency services having to cross bridges to get here," he said.

The meeting took around two hours, with city officials and members of the Port Weller Residents Association saying there will be more.