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Displaced residents to return to Hamilton’s Mathias Place after arson attack
Residents who were displaced by an arson attack at a Good Shepherd location in Hamilton’s west end last week are expected to return home on Monday.
The Hamilton Fire Department responded around 6:45 a.m. on March 11 to reports of an alarm at Mathias Place, a supportive housing program operated by the non-profit.
Smoke was found on the fourth floor, coming from a fire in one unit. Additional resources from across the city arrived on scene after it was upgraded to a multiple-alarm fire.
Firefighters were able to quickly put out the blaze with the assistance of the sprinkler system. The fire was contained to a single room.
WATCH MORE: Hamilton man charged with arson after fire at Good Shepherd’s Mathias Place
Alectra cut off hydro to the building after the sprinkler system caused flooding on multiple floors.
The significant damage forced 26 residents to relocate to another Good Shepherd building on Aikman Avenue. No one was injured.
John Lee, director of the HOMES program at Good Shepherd Non-Profit Homes Inc., told CHCH News that residents are expected to move back to Mathias Place on March 24.
“Good Shepherd is taking precautions to ensure that the return is safe and that the damage is almost completely remediated after the fire and water damage,” Lee wrote in an email statement.
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He noted there were unforeseen delays due to some parts being on backorder.
Hamilton police are investigating the fire as arson and have charged a 61-year-old man in connection with it.
There is no word yet on the estimated cost of damages.
Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal was notified.
