Every December, a few dozen people gather to remember the nine men and one woman who died in the Rupert Hotel fire at the corner of Parliament and Queen on Dec. 23, 1989.

It was a dilapidated, century old, wooden framed building used as a rooming house with close to 30 units where tenants lived in crammed quarters. The corridors were so narrow their shoulders almost brushed the walls as they walked down the hallways. A poorly maintained building, the Rupert’s main fire alarm system was turned off and the backup system wasn’t working.