'Unbelievably upsetting': Residents unsure of what's next and who's to blame after Langford highrise evacuated

Emotions are running high as hundreds of people vacate a troubled highrise in Langford due to "life-safety" concerns with the structure.

On Monday, the City of Langford revoked the occupancy permit for Ridgeview Place, formerly called Danbrook One.

It marked the second time the city revoked the occupancy permit for the building in four years, upending the lives of residents.

"It's just been the most unbelievably upsetting thing I've ever experienced," said Dennis MacDonald.

MacDonald lived in the building with his daughter and autistic grandson.

"This isn't a big change – this is a life change for this little boy," he said.

Another father was at the Langford apartment building Tuesday to help his two daughters move out. For now, they'll stay with him.

"It completely turns [life] upside down," said Nicole Tremblay. "We have nowhere to go right now."

"We have my dad's house. Everything's so expensive," she said. "Where are we supposed to go?"

Ninety units are being evacuated, leaving around 200 people suddenly looking for a new home in a region with few affordable options.

"We don't know what's next. We're just doing our best," said another tenant, Ariana Kingerski.

The 90-unit Danbrook One building has been renamed RidgeView Place. (CTV News)

WHERE ARE TENANTS STAYING?

Just before Christmas 2019, the city issued a similar evacuation notice because the building was deemed unsafe.

The building underwent extensive renovations and the city reissued an occupancy permit in April 2022.

Kingerski and her partner moved in to the building recently, assuming it was now safe. Now she says they feel betrayed.

"Your heart drops," she said. "It's also the feeling of knowing, like, this building had problems before and we were told it was OK."

On Monday night, the city set up cots at a church a few blocks away from the building for residents who suddenly found themselves without a safe home.

None of those cots were used. Instead, pressure was felt elsewhere.

A nearby Holiday Inn was completely full, and even had to cancel some bookings. It remains at capacity Tuesday and Wednesday.

"I called five hotels last night and they were all full," said MacDonald.

Meanwhile, property owner Centurion has offered residents $1,000 as a gesture of goodwill.

It's also offering prorated rent for the rest of the month and may cover moving expenses.

"It cost me $5,000 to move to Victoria. What's $1,000 going to do?" said MacDonald.

"I would never move back into the building," he said. "I don't think I would ever move back into Langford."

Capping off a hectic 24 hours, a group of renters say they are considering a class action lawsuit against those who have turned their lives upside down, some for a second time.

WHO'S TO BLAME?

As Ridgeview Place empties, one family has decided to leave their belongings behind. Instead, they're left carrying the weight of dozens of unanswered questions.

"The fact that we’re out and have very little information is concerning and very stressful," said resident Patrick Duggan.

Duggan, his wife Kate, their baby and their dog are staying with family in Port Alberni.

"We’re being told it’s unsafe again, so many questions with that – how was it re-approved?" he said.

Centurion supposedly remediated the highrise after it was first evacuated over structural flaws in 2019.

The City of Langford then restored the building's occupancy permit in April 2022 after remediation efforts were completed.

"We were led to believe that everything was up to building code," said Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson on Monday.

"We've learned since that everything wasn't."

Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson on April 24, 2023. (CTV News)

The city says it relies on engineers to do their jobs correctly, and that it doesn't have the resources to do comprehensive checks itself.

"And that's what happens 99 per cent of the time across B.C.," Goodmanson said Tuesday. "When an engineer comes in with a stamped plan, we have to go by that."

Centurion did not respond to CTV News' question about the checks and balances it has in place to prevent this from happening.

The engineer it used for the original building design was punished by Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia (EGBC) after the first evacuation.

Brian McClure lost his engineering licence and was ordered to pay more than $50,000 in fines and legal costs for incompetence and unprofessional conduct.

There's no word yet on who's responsible for this second evacuation, after the building was seemingly deemed safe for residents to return.

"There's going to be lots of lawyers involved coming up, and it would be sort of inappropriate for me to say who's at fault," said Goodmanson.

This time, the city says it will not issue an occupancy permit for the building until Centurion completes a thorough assessment from a third party engineer.

"I’m not sure where to put the blame to be honest," said Duggan. "Is it on Centurion, is it on the engineer, the town, the province?"