Community rallies behind Hamilton homeowner after refuge for newcomers decimated by fire

For three years, a tangerine-brick home on the corner of Fairmount Avenue quietly served as a refuge for newcomers to Canada.

Amr Abdel-Latif was to thank.

The longtime immigrant from Jordan knew what a warm bed and friendly face could mean for those in an unfamiliar country, and offered more than a half-dozen newcomers - young students and families, from Egypt to South Africa to Columbia - food, shelter and work through his self-owned residential cleaning service.

It started informally, with friends coming through," said Abdel-Latif. I wanted to be able to create jobs for people because I know it's harder for newcomers. I wanted to create a community."

That community is now reeling after an electrical fire last week left their two-storey home uninhabitable, and with thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Ten Hamilton firefighter units responded to the home just off Aberdeen Avenue shortly after 1 p.m. on Jan. 11 for reports of a structure fire. The blaze started on the second floor.

Abdel-Latif was away, oblivious and seated in a parking lot.

I got a phone call from a contractor - there was a painter working at the house - and he said, I just want to let you know, my guy just went to your house and it's on fire.' I was, like, Wait, what?'"

Abdel-Latif quickly drove home and arrived to a flurry of police, firefighters and worried neighbours. The windows to his three-bedroom home were shattered, the walls charred, doors totalled.

It was surreal.

A day earlier, Abdel-Latif penned a note on Facebook to his friends and family expressing optimism for 2021. Even though it is so easy to remember all the negatives of this past year, I have to remind myself of all the positives and all the relationships I was able to build," he wrote.

The fire happened literally not 24 hours after," Abdel-Latif said Saturday afternoon, standing on the curb outside his home which was coyly nicknamed The Fairmount" by guests. It was the first time he went inside to salvage any belongings left unscathed from the blaze.

It still hasn't really hit me," he added, because I've spending my days and nights on the phone with insurance companies, police department, fire department, family ... I'm still going, going, going. I haven't taken it in to process, and I need that."

So too, Abdel-Latif said, do his two housemates, young students at Mohawk College who were sleeping upstairs when the fire broke out.

Abdel-Latif said one housemate awoke to the sound of a ringing alarm. The smoke was palpable. He rose from bed and went across the hall, where another roommate was unconscious in their room. He dragged him out amid the flames.

They are traumatized, still in shock," Abdel-Latif said, noting one roommate is fairly new to Canada and another has lived in the country just a few years. It all happened - from the alarm to dragging the housemate out - in five minutes."

One roommate, the one who was unconscious, had to be taken to hospital. He remained there over the weekend in stable condition.

On Saturday, a sobered Abdel-Latif gingerly walked through the wreckage that was the second floor to his home, which his parents left for him when they returned to Jordan in 2017.

It was almost unrecognizable.

The stench of charcoal lingered. The once beige carpet was now black, littered in ashes. The white walls were covered in thick soot, the windows boarded up. Luckily, Abdel-Latif's bedroom was relatively spared. The others were not: dry wall torn open, bits and pieces of clothes strewn across the floor, pillows and mattresses with burn holes.

All gone," said Abdel-Latif of his housemates' belongings, noting they don't have insurance.

The Office of the Fire Marshal told Abdel-Latif the damage is around $200,000. While the home is insured, an adjuster said it could be another six months before tenants could return.

Abdel-Latif has been sleeping at a friend's place since Monday, a change from the role of host he is so used to playing.

And the community has noticed.

A GoFundMe to help the three displaced young men has already garnered more than $13,000. The funds will be used for essentials and clothing for the two uninsured students, as well as for kick-starting Abdel-Latif's cleaning business, which he operated out of the Fairmount home.

Abdel-Latif said people hear and read about fires, but never think it will happen to them - until it does. People hear and read about a community's response to a tragic event, but never think it will be necessary to them - until it is. That, he said, has left him incredibly grateful.

I'm overwhelmed," he said. I didn't know the community cares that much, and it's unfortunate under these circumstances. But this has made the community stronger."

Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com