Architects, builders sued for ‘negligence’ in Valley View condo fire

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/09/2022 (1247 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The groups responsible for designing and constructing Valley View Condominiums, which was destroyed in a massive fire last fall, are facing a lawsuit from some of the building’s former tenants and various business interests.

The plaintiffs say the severity of the fire was the “result of the negligence and breaches of duty of the Architect Defendants and the Builder Defendants,” according to a statement of claim that was filed with the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba Sept. 1.

The plaintiffs named in the lawsuit include Brandon Condominium Corporation No. 81, 4710525 Manitoba Ltd. (the general partner of Valley View Villas Investment Limited Partnership), Brydges Property Management and 18 former Valley View residents who lost their home in the blaze.

The “architect defendants” in the case are Jerald D. Peters Architect Inc. and FT Architects Inc., two firms that were hired in or around 2003-04 to prepare drawings and plans for the construction of the apartment building.

The “builder defendants” are Irwin Homes Ltd. and Anwin Holdings Ltd., two general contractors that were hired to construct the apartment complex, which was completed around 2005.

Also included in the lawsuit are former tenants Brittany Myrah and Dillon Sangster, who are accused of causing the fire after allegedly failing to “discard and extinguish cigarettes or other smoking material in a safe fashion and in a manner that would not cause damage to the Condo Complex.”

Myrah is named in multiple other lawsuits that were filed earlier this year that allege she failed to dispose of a cigarette properly and instead threw it into a container filled with “combustible material.”

In one of the statements of defence filed in the Court of King’s Bench on April 26, Myrah denies the allegations in the statements of claim against her and denies that she is responsible for starting the fire.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Valley View Condominiums, located at 1400 Pacific Ave., caught fire at approximately 8:45 p.m. on Sept. 21, 2021.

While local first responders arrived on the scene a short time later, the fire quickly grew out of control, spreading from the fourth floor to the roof within minutes.

Despite firefighters’ best efforts, the blaze made its way down to the lower floors as well, causing around $11 million in damage.

As a result, the structure was demolished in March.

One cat died, but otherwise the fire didn’t result in any additional deaths or injuries, although more than 100 tenants were left without a home and many of their possessions.

The plaintiffs are blaming the rapid spread of the fire on the design and construction of the 48-unit apartment building.

The Sept. 1 statement of claim focuses on the building’s fourth-floor balconies, which allegedly contained a “latent and dangerous defect.”

More specifically, the plaintiffs say the perforated aluminum soffits attached to the rafters of the fourth-floor balconies were not affixed to a solid wood substrate material or other fire suppression material.

“The result of this latent and dangerous defect was that the Condo Complex was significantly more susceptible to damage caused by the spread of the fire,” the statement reads.

Looking at the architect defendants in particular, the plaintiffs claim that the Jerald D. Peters Architect Inc. and FT Architects Inc. failed to exercise all reasonable care in preparing the building’s architectural designs and neglected to diligently oversee the carrying out of the work by the contractors.

Jerald D. Peters Architect Inc. and FT Architects Inc. declined to comment on the case.

Meanwhile, the builder defendants are accused of failing to construct the building, and the fourth-floor balconies specifically, in a “good and workmanlike” manner that was “free of dangerous defects.”

As a result of these perceived “breaches of duty and negligence,” the plaintiffs say the aggregate sum of their damages and loss is around $10 million, since the parties involved have or will be required to replace personal items, shoulder the cost of demolishing the building and pay for other related business expenses.

The Sun contacted the plaintiffs’ attorneys from Winnipeg-based law firm Fillmore Riley, as well as Thomas Percy, a lawyer with Intact Insurance Company who represents Myrah, but didn’t receive a response by press time Wednesday.

Additionally, a representative from Irwin Homes/Anwin Holdings Ltd. told the Sun that no one was available to comment on the lawsuit Wednesday.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson