Dozens of tents housing the homeless lining Wesley St. are the source of a fire order obtained by Nanaimo Fire Rescue to improve safety at the large homeless encampment. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

close quarters

Fire safety order issued for Wesley St. as City contemplates “softer” approach to encampment

Oct 23, 2020 | 4:59 PM

NANAIMO — A fire safety order is now in place for the Wesley St. encampment near Nanaimo City Hall.

Nanaimo Fire Rescue chief Karen Fry confirmed to NanaimoNewsNOW the order was issued on Thursday, Oct. 15.

It requires the roughly 100 people living on Wesley St. to remove tarps and flammable materials. It’s similar to the fire safety order issued for the sprawling Discontent City in 2018.

Fry said she’s seen tents wedged closer together, more items on the ground around tents and open flames during her walks through the area.

“Those things, when you put them together, really started causing me deep concern about the occupants safety,” Fry said.

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Fire inspectors are asking those living on Wesley St. to remove dangerous items and take down tarps.

Fry said they’re currently focused on education versus stronger enforcement.

“We’re not going in with a heavy hammer, our intention is to work with these individuals so they can be safe. After the first weekend we saw a little bit of compliance but today when I looked out there it doesn’t really appear to be much different. That obviously concerns me.”

Fry said they’ll return to the drawing board if conditions don’t improve on Wesley St.

“I don’t want go to a body that’s burned up in a tent. If it’s going to take more standing with people while they remove stuff, that’s potentially what we do.”

The Wesley St. encampment grew swiftly during the summer. It started as a handful of tents which were removed during the day after the creation of a specific task force to clear the area.

Further action from the City followed, including a different task force focused on cleaning.

Tents would be removed each day into a nearby parking lot to clean the street, but the process stopped recently.

Outreach teams visit multiple times a day and community organizations such as the Wisteria Community Association hand out supplies and food.

Fry said she and other BC Fire Chiefs are recommending a provincial task force be created, including fire and police chiefs as well as health authorities and outreach workers, to create standard solutions across B.C. to keep encampments safe.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @SpencerSterritt