46 Montreal Street: two weeks after fire, tenants still struggling, Suits Nightclub open

It’s been two weeks since firefighters rescued six people after a fire broke out in an apartment building at 46 Montreal Street in Kingston --- and displaced tenants are still navigating social agency help to find safe places to stay.

The fire started just before 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. Crews from Kingston Fire & Rescue (KFR) stations were dispatched to 46 Montreal Street at the corner of Montreal and Queen Streets; upon arrival, they found flames coming from the rear of the building, with smoke filling the downtown core. Since then, an entire floor of the building has been closed off to residents due to safety concerns, leaving the tenants precariously housed.

According to KFR, fire prevention officers were brought in to “determine the cause of the incident,” and the damage is estimated at $500,000.

According to Anthony Colangeli, Kingston Police's Media Relations Officer, Kingston Police only attended the building on the day of the fire to assist with traffic and closing the roadway. Asked whether they were investigating the fire, he said there was no indication of criminal or suspicious elements in the incident. The fire marshal was not called in, according to Kingston Fire Services, whose spokesperson said the fire department will not disclose any further information about the fire – including the number of tenants displaced.

Displaced tenant

In an interview with Kingstonist, Kevin Smith, who lived on the third floor of the building, recounted his experience on the day of the fire. 

He explained, “I was actually on the phone with the Salvation Army when the fire started… I heard [my neighbour] run out of his unit and start yelling at the top of his lungs, 'Fire, fire, fire!'” Smith claimed that the fire was caused by this neighbour, who had left a candle burning while he was away from the apartment --- although the fire department has not publicly confirmed this as the cause.

“I open the door, and I see black smoke and a flame… The lady from the Salvation Army said, ‘If the building’s on fire, get out of there,'" Smith said, "and I ran like a marathon runner down those steep stairs, which are not the safest.” 

Once outside, he began experiencing chest pain and lightheadedness, he said, due to his congenital heart issues. 

Smith expressed frustration that emergency medical help was significantly delayed, noting that police arrived first, followed by fire crews, and that he had to insist on receiving medical attention despite what he said were apparent symptoms of smoke inhalation. Eventually, though, ambulances arrived, and he reports that he was the only resident transported to the hospital and soon released.

Smith described long-standing safety and maintenance issues within the building, including bug infestations, unsafe stairwells, and structural gaps that allowed pests to enter units. 

“People were questioning why I lived there, but it was better than the street, even though it’s bug-infested,” Smith said.

He told Kingstonist, “I’ve been homeless every year since 2020. 2019 was the last year I didn’t have to look for a new place to live.” 

Finding new accommodation typically takes months, he said, and now he is looking again.

Following the fire, Smith said, displaced tenants were initially assisted by the Red Cross and placed temporarily in local hotels. However, Smith reported that the support was short-term and inconsistent, and that coordination among relief organizations, including Home Base Housing, has been uneven, with some tenants receiving support and others not contacted at all. 

Although Smith said the Salvation Army has suggested he may be placed by January 1, 2026, he remains skeptical, given his experience.

Another community member, Tammy Ball, has set up a GoFundMe campaign to support all displaced tenants, with donations to be shared proportionally among them to help pay for motel rooms and other necessities.

Despite the challenges, Smith emphasized his desire to raise awareness rather than seek personal attention, and he hoped that media coverage would encourage broader support for all affected residents. 

He expressed gratitude for community members who have helped him, and he closed the conversation on a hopeful note: “Hopefully there’s a Christmas miracle… I’m hoping to have a new place by the end of the year, and that everyone else can as well."

Building management

Kingstonist also spoke with Jo Anne Ruston, who helps building owners Laurence Gray and Ron Gibson manage the tenant apartments at 46 Montreal Street. She is also a co-owner of Suits Nightclub, the adult entertainment venue on the building's first floor.

“I help manage the tenants. I also own the business,” she explained, “but Suits was never on fire.”

Ruston said she is frustrated with how the media covered the fire. She stressed that her nightclub was never involved in the fire, as most media outlets portrayed; there was only a small amount of water damage that has since been repaired.

She confirmed the fire was in a residential unit on the third floor of 46 Montreal Street. 

“The fire department hasn't released the exact cause of it," she said. "It was caused in the tenant's unit. That's all that I know, or I'm aware of.”

“Unfortunately, there were quite a few tenants displaced because of this. The Electrical Safety Authority made the owners lock out the entire floor so that nobody could return to that floor," Ruston explained.

She provided some background on the situation, which she believes led to the fire: “[A tenant ] had a lot of mental health issues... There's a hoarding situation. For the past year, this tenant has been causing quite a bit of trouble. He's mentally not capable of even living [on his own], unfortunately, and I feel like this is a huge fail of the system.”

Ruston explained that she had understood this tenant had support in place to help him live independently, but that didn’t materialize, in her opinion. 

“Home Base Housing said that there would be regular checks on him, which there weren't, and he was supposed to be supplied with a worker at AMHS, and unfortunately, there was an insane waiting list that he had not even been accepted into yet,” she said.

AMHS is the acronym for Addiction and Mental Health Services --- Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, which is also referred to as AMHS-KLFA. 

“I feel like if we had the support in place that was promised in the beginning when he resided at this unit, it could have been a different situation," Ruston continued. "I feel like there's a huge lack of support for these tenants that are being housed in lower-income areas. They're just dumped on the landlords and then just kind of left [to cope on their own].”

“And now, unfortunately, these tenants are displaced and are looking for supportive housing. I would say 90 per cent of them are on ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Plan). [Supportive housing] is really not here in Kingston,” she lamented.

As for the business side of the property, Ruston stated, “Suits was only closed [voluntarily] for a week, because I was volunteering my time to coordinate between the Electrical Safety Authority and Utilities Kingston to get the power back on --- at least to get the tenants in the second floor back in, which we did.” 

“So the tenants on the second floor are back in their units,” she confirmed. However, “the third floor is locked out until right now; I think the owners are going through the insurance process. I really don't know how long that will take and what they need... for the construction to happen, to get everything repaired and back in order.”

Kingstonist reached out to Ron Gibson, one of the owners, but he declined to comment and redirected all questions to Ruston.

According to Ruston, another source of frustration is misinformation shared online, accusing her of locking tenants out of the third floor apartments and preventing them from retrieving their belongings. 

“Most of them have Home Base Housing workers or a worker through the Salvation Army, and I've been in contact with everybody,” she said. 

"The Electrical Safety Authority made us put up security fire doors so that the tenants on the second floor were not able to go onto that third floor, because it's not safe just to walk around, right?"

Ruston continued, "And so the tenants on the third floor need to make appointments, actually, to go and collect their belongings. We just need to unlock the main door for them; none of the locks have been changed.”

She also said, “Because most tenants were on ODSP, they had direct checks that were given to [Ron Gibson] every month, and I made sure right away that that was returned to their account." 

Despite public misinformation on this subject as well, Ruston emphasized, "They've gotten all of their ODSP money back.”

GoFundMe

As mentioned previously, a GoFundMe has been set up titled, "Help Rebuild Lives After the 46 Montreal St. Fire". 

It reads, "On November 26, 2025, a devastating fire tore through the building at 46 Montreal Street in Kingston, Ontario, leaving multiple residents suddenly displaced, shocked, and without a safe place to call home. Overnight, people lost not only their apartments—but their sense of stability, security, and normalcy. Many of the tenants affected were already living in vulnerable situations. Some faced ongoing housing issues long before this tragedy: lack of heating, structural problems, uncompleted repairs, infestations, and unsafe living conditions. This fire didn’t just destroy a building—it pushed already struggling individuals and families into crisis. Now, they urgently need our help."

It promises that "every dollar raised will go directly toward helping the displaced tenants" with:

• Emergency housing (hotel rooms, short-term rentals, safe temporary stays)
• Food, clothing, blankets, and winter essentials
• Replacing lost belongings and documents
• Transportation costs
• Necessities like toiletries, medications, and clean clothes
• Pet care for those who fled with their animals
• Support while navigating the Landlord and Tenant Board process

With files from Tori Stafford.