Smoke damage temporarily closes Blue Door
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/09/2024 (608 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Ask Auntie Blue Door at 31A Ninth St. is closed this week as staff work to clean up from a recent fire, according to a post on the organization’s Facebook page.
The Blue Door, operated through the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation’s Ask Auntie program, is a drop-in centre where people can get shelter and access services.
BNRC executive director Rushana Newman told the Sun on Wednesday that the fire had not taken place in the Blue Door itself, but in an apartment area located within the same building complex.
A sign on the front door of the Ask Auntie Blue Door says the drop-in centre is closed this week. (Colin Slark/The Brandon Sun)
The only damage to the Blue Door was some minor smoke damage. A sign has been placed on the front door warning visitors that the facility is closed for the week.
“We just closed so we can clean up, wash the walls and make sure that our clients are safe and not inhaling any smoke,” Newman said.
The plan is for the facility to reopen on Monday and resume its regular weekday operating hours of 4-7 p.m. and weekend hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Longer winter hours of 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. go into effect on Oct. 1.
A Brandon Police Service spokesperson said BPS had received a report on Sept. 2 of a chair on fire inside the back door at that address, causing minor smoke damage.
The chair was pulled outside and put out with a fire extinguisher. Brandon Fire and Emergency Services located a second fire set underneath some stairs at the same address.
It is unknown who started the fires and there were no witnesses.
Last winter, after some difficulties, the Blue Door was able to establish an overnight drop-in centre at 725 Princess Ave. to provide a warm place for homeless people to go.
Newman said the BNRC is currently in talks with local municipal and provincial officials to establish another centre this winter, though it may ultimately be run by another organization.
She said it was too early to say where the centre might be established this winter.
» cslark@brandonsun.com
» X: @ColinSlark