Snow and cold temperatures have forced representatives of the Oppenheimer Park homeless camp to set up a warming tent the size of a transit bus and heat it with propane heaters.
The move Thursday comes despite the city鈥檚 ongoing concern about fire and safety hazards posed by heating tents in the Downtown Eastside park currently blanketed in snow.
Firefighters have responded to several tent fires over the past year, despite an order in place to forbid campers to have heaters, propane tanks, fuel, barbecues and candles in tents.
Camp coordinator Chrissy Brett said the heaters, which were donated, were fired up because the city and 麻豆传媒映画Fire and Rescue Services have not provided a solution to keep campers warm in the park.
鈥淭he first night we had about 30 people,鈥� said Brett, who spoke to reporters in the park Friday morning while three people slept in the large tent.
The Carnegie Community Action Project and the Pivot Legal Society have also written letters to the city demanding a solution, emphasizing that shelters are not the answer for everyone.
Fiona York of the Carnegie Community Action Project, who was in the park Friday, pointed to the city鈥檚 homeless count report from last year in which about 400 homeless people for avoiding shelters.
Those reasons included they didn鈥檛 feel safe, had problems with shelter staff, couldn鈥檛 bring their pet with them, the prevalence of bedbugs and pests and preferred to be alone. 聽
Plus, many shelters are at capacity at this time of year.
The city鈥檚 position on the park has not changed for months, with staff continuing to work to locate housing for campers and open shelters and community centres as emergency warming centres.
At last count, the city said 40 people were living in the park, while Brett estimated Friday it was closer to 100.
The city鈥檚 communications department said in an email Friday that 鈥渉eating tents or other temporary structures pose significant fire and other safety hazards, thus making it very difficult to maintain an acceptable level of safety.鈥�
The city said warming centres have been open all week and received more than 1,200 visits. The Powell Street Getaway, which allows pets and carts, is located a half-block from the park and opened 32 nights this winter, the city said.
In a Jan. 13 letter to Caitlin Shane of the Pivot Legal Society, the city鈥檚 deputy city manager Paul Mochrie pointed out Fire Chief Darrell Reid鈥檚 order to ban any 鈥渄angerous sources of heat鈥� in the park has been in place since February 2019.
鈥淭hese activities increase the likelihood of injury or death for people in the park and the surrounding area,鈥� Mochrie wrote.
鈥淔or the safety of everyone in the area, the city urges those people using the park to abide by the fire chief鈥檚 order and make use of the facilities available at our community centres, shelters and warming centres.鈥�
Deputy fire chief Rob Renning told park board commissioners that firefighters responded to 20 tent fires since August. The Courier requested an update on the number of fires from the fire department but all inquiries regarding the park were directed to the city's communications department.
A homeless person in the park Friday who identified himself as 鈥淢ike鈥� said he has slept in Oppenheimer for two weeks. He said he鈥檚 helped people place wooden pallets under their tents to keep them off the cold ground.
He said he keeps his tent warm by creating his own makeshift heating source out of a combination of bricks and twigs.
鈥淚鈥檓 a survivor, I lived in Alberta through the winter time,鈥� he said
Mike argued that government takes better care of refugees to Canada than the people who were born and raised in the country.
鈥淚f they want us to reintegrate into society, they shouldn鈥檛 make us go to the very bottom because that breaks a person,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t breaks their will and their spirit, then we don鈥檛 have hope. We need to be able to look up and say, 鈥極K, everything is going to be OK.鈥� There鈥檚 a reason everybody down here is staring at the ground.鈥�
@Howellings
