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The fire at Cambria House last Wednesday |
Hostel for homeless is closed after major fire
Shelter supporting those living on the streets needs major repairs
A DEVASTATING fire at a King’s Cross hostel has forced it to close indefinitely and left residents living in housing of a far lower standard.
Cambria House in Hunter Street, a Salvation Army hostel, was the final stage of a four-step process to independent living for the homeless in Camden. But after last Wednesday’s midnight blaze, which tore the roof off the newly refurbished building and ravaged the top-floor rooms, the 48 men living there were put up in varying standards of housing.
Safety assessors and council chiefs have warned the building may be uninhabitable for months because of fears the roof could collapse.
Markus Hamilton, 24, who lived on the fifth floor, is now housed in Parker Street hostel.
He said: “The fire has meant I’ve got no home, nowhere to live. Where I was staying was somewhere I could call home. I knew I’d be there for about a year and then move out to my own place.
“Parker Street is dingy, dark and dirty. There are cockroach traps and mousetraps.”
His friend Aregawi Gihiwot, 20, who had been homeless for four years, recently signed up for courier training, but has had to put that on hold since the fire.
He said: “This is worse than square one. I can’t even do my course. I feel terrible compared to how I was, and the worst thing is I’ve been in this situation since I was 16.”
He is also angry that Camden have not offered him better accommodation than Parker Street.
Just three days before the fire, the hostel was unveiled by Town Hall chiefs and Major Malcolm Walters, Cambria House’s manager, as the cornerstone of an ambitious initiative called Pathways, designed to support homeless men.
Fire chiefs are still investigating the cause of the fire.
Councillor Chris Naylor, Camden’s housing chief, said: “This fire is devastating for the staff and residents of the recently refurbished Cambria House hostel.
“Council staff worked with the emergency services throughout the night to set up a shelter and find new beds for all residents after they were evacuated.”
The Salvation Army’s London leader Major Ray Irving said: “Our immediate priority is the welfare of residents and staff.” |
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