Eight residents of a rooming house above the former Crowland Hotel were removed from the building Friday for their own safety and to prevent a potential tragedy.

Welland Fire and Emergency Services Chief Brian Kennedy said the displacement of the residents at 53 Ontario Rd. was done under an immediate threat to life order through the Ontario Fire Marshal's Office and Fire Protection and Prevention Act.

"We've been working with the owner of the building for about eight months . we had an inspection order on the property to do certain things to make it safe," Kennedy said Monday afternoon.

He said the property owner had failed to act on the order, although he had put in a couple of smoke alarms.

Issues inside the nine-room complex on the second floor of the former hotel included hoarding, combustibles lying around, improper use of extension cords and space heaters, and other items.

"It was an accident waiting to happen."

An inspection of the rooms the previous night, Thursday, found there were no working or disabled smoke alarms in five of the nine units, which share a common bathroom.

Kennedy said firefighters took time to clear hazards and ignition sources Thursday, including confiscating the space heaters, to make the building as safe as they could while they were working with the fire marshal to get the building closed.

"We went in Friday with the Canadian Red Cross, Niagara Community Services and Niagara Regional Police. We felt it was unsafe for people to be in that environment."

The chief said the tenants took whatever personal items they felt they needed and were then put up in local accommodations by the Red Cross.

"The Red Cross houses them for the night and the Region steps up with accommodations."

Kennedy said the fire service is working with the building owner who was working over the weekend to get things in order.

"We're in possession of the building and there's a security guard there protecting everyone's property. The building will be open on Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. to let the residents get any additional items they may need," he said, adding the tenants will be escorted in.

A walk around the building shows outside doors boarded up to prevent access and a lock and notice from the fire service on a door on the Ontario Road side of the structure.

The chief said the fire service first learned of conditions inside the Crowland Hotel when they responded to a medical call there.

The on-duty crews, he said, reported what they had found to the fire prevention office, which then inspected the building and issued the orders to make it safe.

With 98 fire-related deaths so far this year in Ontario, up from 78 last year, Kennedy said the fire service is doing everything in its power not to add to those statistics.

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"We haven't had a fatality since 2015 . the last thing we want to see is anyone die in a fire."

The property owner will face charges of non-compliance with the first order issued on the building and the chief said he'll get the building back once he can show it is in safe condition.