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Twenty years ago, a fire roared through a rundown rooming house in downtown Toronto’s east end called the Rupert Hotel and killed 10 residents. More than forty others were left without a home. The fire broke out on the Saturday evening before Christmas, and within minutes the fire was roaring through the premises. Toxic smoke quickly filled the building, and flames were soon shooting out of the windows. There were many acts of heroism that evening, including tenants helping their fellow tenants (at least one fire exit had been illegally converted by the landlord into a room, and the resident of that room was able to save several others). One of the ten who died in the fire had been seen outside the building, but went back inside to save some friends, and was overcome by smoke. Firefighters were also very brave – more lives would have been lost without their devotion. A forensic toxicologist testified at the Rupert inquest that the cheap building finishings and furniture released a toxic plume and that those who died were likely overcome within seconds – one breath of the deadly smoke was all that it took to take their lives. So much water was poured into the century-old structure that the building collapsed and it took several days of digging through the ice and debris to free all the bodies.

The tragic fire galvanized the community and at a memorial held just days later at a nearby church, a coalition of rooming house residents, people who were homeless, housing advocates, housing and service providers and others emerged to lead a campaign for safe, healthy and affordable homes for all. The Rupert Coalition won important changes in local and provincial fire and building codes – and launched a pilot project working with 525 people labeled ‘hardest to house’ to build or renovate good homes in more than two dozen buildings. As co-ordinator of the Rupert pilot project from 1990 to 1993, I worked with a dedicated core staff and many community partners, along with tens of millions in funding from the municipal, provincial and federal governments, on this innovative project. We completed the initiative on time and under budget, pioneering various models of effective housing and service delivery that put the tenants at the centre. After being commended by politicians at all levels, the pilot project was shut down – but the hard work of ensuring safe, healthy and affordable homes continues.

A resident of the Rupert was convicted on criminal charges in starting the fire, but the large number of deaths were caused by substandard conditions in the building which allow the small spark to turn into a deadly blaze. Among the terrible conditions in the building: A disabled primary and secondary fire alarm, lack of proper fire separations, blocking of fire exits, over-crowding, lack of heat (which prompted some residents to light small fires in waste paper baskets to obtain some meagre warmth in their rooms), narrow and unsafe corridors, highly flammable and toxic building finishes and furniture, and other unhealthy and unsafe conditions. Before the fire, the Rupert was notorious as a terrible dwelling. As a community worker in the neighbourhood, I regularly visited the Rupert and escorted the then-Ontario minister of housing on a tour of the premises in the spring before the fire.

Every year, a memorial is held to remember the ten who died in the Rupert fire and to re-commit to the struggle for safe and affordable homes. This year’s memorial – marking the 20th anniversary of the terrible fire – will include Barbara Hall, Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, who was a city councilor at the time of the fire and a valued ally in the early work of the Rupert Coalition. The anniversary will be held Thursday, December 17, at 11 am at the site of the former Rupert at Queen and Parliament, where a plaque in the sidewalk commemorates the tragedy and legacy of those who died.

Everyone is welcome to attend the special, 20th anniversary celebration that will include the Echo Women’s Choir; the musical group of Heinz, Roger and Paul singing the Rupert Hotel song (which they wrote and have performed at the annual memorial for many years); plus presentations from those involved in the 1990s, and in 2009, in the struggle for safe, healthy and affordable homes.