His food is spoiled and his apartment smells of smoke, but a tired Benoit Deschamps was happy to still have a home, after a fire completely destroyed the building next door to his Saturday morning, Oct.  5, in 91原创 City.

Deschamps first realized there was a fire when he heard the trucks pulling up to the aging structure that housed the Viva Mexico restaurant and several other businesses in the 20500 block of the one-way section of the Fraser Hwy. and 56 Ave.  

鈥淚鈥檓 used to hearing sirens around here, but not that close," he told the 91原创 Advance Times.

It was a little after 6 a.m.

For eight years, Deschamps, 43, has lived in a residence on the second floor of the building, with his pet cockatiel Pepe. His retired father, Mario Deschamps, 68, lives in another suite on the same floor.

At first, It looked like the fire next door might be a relatively minor blaze, with just some smoke coming from the building, but when firefighters encountered a well-established blaze inside, near the back of the Viva Mexico restaurant, they pulled out and ordered an evacuation of the neighbouring residences.

Deschamps, his dad and Pepe, who left in his cage, spent the rest of their day in the parking lot of the nearby Rendezvous Pub, watching the fire crews fight to keep the blaze from spreading to their homes and other neighbouring buildings.

91原创 City's Emergency Program Emergency Support Services program paid to put them all up at the nearby Coastal hotel, which Deschamps said was nice, but the mattresses were softer than he is used to.

"My back was out," he laughed.

Once the fire was out, occupants were briefly allowed back in on Saturday.

"I went back in and grabbed some work clothes," said Deschamps, an industrial painter.

By Monday, the power, which had been cut at the fire department's order as a precaution, had been restored and Deschamps, his dad and Pepe were back home.

"It smells like a campfire," he said.

Because the power had been cut, the food in his fridge was spoiled.

鈥淟ots of cleaning, friend,鈥� he told the 91原创 Advance Times. 鈥滾ots of cleaning.鈥�

But he managed to escape water damage, unlike some residents of a building near his, who weren鈥檛 as lucky, or the Constant Collectibles store below.

Deschamps went to work Monday and Tuesday and then took Wednesday off to sleep in and recover.

鈥淚 was tired,鈥� he admitted.

His dad is recovering from the stress, and Pepe is doing fine, Deschamps reported.

He praised the firefighters from the City and  Township, who waged an all-day battle that allowed him to return home.

鈥淚 feel fortunate,鈥� he said.

Video courtesy Anderson Properties Ltd.