Dozens of tenants are trying to piece their lives back together after Saturday's large apartment fire on Adelaide Street that left them homeless.

"The city has put us up in a hotel til Tuesday, but once Tuesday comes, I don't know where we're supposed to go," says tenant Erin Mullins.

Scores of people were left homeless after fire ripped through the three storey walk-up.

Thankfully, Guilio Serratore escaped unharmed.

"I lost everything. Everything I own. Like I said yesterday, I ran out with my dog and with my clothes and I didn't have time to grab nothing. My ID, all my family pictures of my kids, everything they have up there. You know everything's gone. I have to start all over again," says Serratore.

Many tenants were trying to get back inside Sunday to see if anything can be salvaged.

For Richard Church and his wife Bela, precious family heirlooms are in jeopardy.

"It's devastating. I mean the process of having to wait for the insurance engineers to come and inspect the building to determine whether or not they can actually go in at this point and salvage what's left of our apartment. It's a wait and see game and it's just really just eating at our nerves," says Church.

Police, the fire department, and the Fire Marshal's office continue to look for a cause but officials say the fire started in a front unit on the second floor.

Several tenants tell CTV News the unit had no hydro and the occupant was seen using candles

Witnesses also say the tenant had extension cords to the hallway and other units to power appliances.

"We've looked at the entire building. We're now in the area we believe that the fire started in. And at this point we're excavating that area to try to come up with a cause," says Brent Smith, Fire Prevention Officer.

The rear half of the building (18 units) remains intact. But the entire front half of the building (24 units) is impacted by fire and water damage and remains questionable.

No word on how long the investigation could take, but for displaced tenants a burning reality is now sinking in.

"I woke up this morning and I didn't know where I was. I thought it was a dream at first. Then I realized it wasn't. My whole life's gone," adds Mullins.