At a town board meeting Wednesday night, Perinton Supervisor Ciaran Hanna remembered the frigid early morning last January when fire overtook 19 units at the Pines of Perinton.
No one was injured, but 65 residents were displaced from their homes.
On Wednesday, the town board thanked the volunteers, community members, fire crews and everyone else who stepped up to help those impacted by the fire. In the days following the devastating event, people donated clothes, food, other essentials and even set up fundraisers. The American Red Cross helped to find shelter for the residents.
The cause of the fire at the affordable housing community was never determined, but the event served as a turning point for many residents who had been frustrated with insufficient living conditions.
"It shed some lights on some issues that were at the Pines," Hanna said. "I think the town, at the time, it gave us the opportunity to emphasize to the residents that if there is a problem, they need to contact the town and we will work with the development company."
After the fire, residents began speaking out about unsafe living conditions like rodents, mold, water damage and more.
State Assemblywoman Jen Lunsford and State Sen. Samra Brouk also helped bring attention to the issues and educate residents on their rights.
In the last year, the town said there is progress with the Pines. The property manager has completed every court order to get the building up to code and continues to work with property managers and residents when issues come up.
"All of the issues are cleared up now," Hanna said. "And as new ones have come in, we are able to address them more quickly and we don’t have any kind of a backlog now."
The Pines has addressed some of the residents concerns by bringing in new management, and also hiring a community services director, to help each resident when they have issues.
Despite the progress, one resident, who did not want to be named, said many of the issues persist. She said she still finds rodents in her unit weekly.
"They send maintenance over to our places, to our apartments, but all they do is just patching things and putting band-aids constantly," she said. "It's still the same thing, really. It's not getting any better."
A spokesperson for the Pines shared a statement on the one year anniversary of the fire.
It’s wonderful to see members of the community being recognized for the amazing generosity they displayed after the fire. Efforts to rebuild the 19 apartments that were lost are underway and we are just a few months away from the start of work on the long-awaited rehabilitation and modernization of the Pines. In the meantime, maintenance requests are being resolved smoothly and the staff brought on board last summer has strengthened communication with the residents.
The Pines is expected to start its $50 million renovation project that will upgrade all 500 units in the complex.
The town is urging residents with complaints to first contact their property manager, but if they feel they are not being heard to file a report with the town's building and code enforcement.