Moose Jaw apartment building evacuated due to safety risks

Residents of a Moose Jaw apartment building were cleared out in an emergency evacuation due to multiple safety risks, according to the city.

Residents of a Moose Jaw apartment building were cleared out in an emergency evacuation due to multiple safety risks, according to the city.

City officials, along with Moose Jaw firefighters and police conducted an inspection of the building – located on the corner of Stadacona Street and 1st Avenue N.W. – on Monday.

“The safety issues with that building just warranted us to shut it down,” Moose Jaw Fire Chief Rod Montgomery said in a news conference on Tuesday. “Not only fire issues, there was building infractions, electrical issues and certainly gas. When we went there yesterday we did discover a gas leak.”

The leak was so serious that utilities to the building were shut off.

“So to some degree we were very lucky as gas was building up in a place and the inspector shut the gas completely off,” Montgomery said. “We’re fortunate that it happened because it could’ve been a lot worse.”

Inspectors found windows that couldn’t be opened, deteriorating flooring on fire escapes, suites that did not have doors or locks, and accumulation of combustibles, some of which blocked emergency exits.

Smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors and pull stations were not functioning according to Montgomery.