In a considerably secluded and darkish location beneath the Vancouver Conference Centre, a pot on a makeshift range, a can of Stagg chili and a lone toothbrush are among the many charred stays of a tent hearth which claimed a person’s life on Christmas Day.
Firefighters say they responded to an space close to Waterfront Street and Canada Place shortly after 9:00 a.m., for a report of an individual on hearth.
“There was a affected person mendacity on the roadway who was nonetheless smoking and nonetheless on hearth,” stated Asst. Chief Keith Stewart with Vancouver Fireplace Rescue Providers. “We used an extinguisher to extinguish that affected person and tragically the affected person succumbed to his accidents.”
Stewart stated the Dec. 25 hearth was an unintentional tragedy, sparked by cooking supplies.
The deadly blaze was the third reported hearth at a tent encampment in Metro Vancouver over an roughly 24-hour interval.
On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, a motorhome erupted in flames at a tent encampment off Grandview Freeway simply east of Boundary Street on the Burnaby-Vancouver border – in a big hearth fueled by a number of propane tanks.
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A tent additionally caught hearth on the morning of Dec. 24 at a small encampment close to Marine Drive and Knight Road in South Vancouver.
Fortuitously, no accidents had been reported in both of these fires.
“There’s no hearth safety in these tents so when hearth does occur it often spreads quickly and rapidly,” Stewart instructed International Information in an interview Tuesday.
Lincoln Drummond, who lives in a cargo trailer on the location of the fireplace close to Grandview Freeway, says the motorhome resident escaped and is now residing in one other RV at a unique location.
He added he stays protected by utilizing a generator and electrical warmth as a substitute of gasoline energy in his tarp-covered residence – however is saddened to be taught somebody died.
“It’s horrible that it’s important to like stay in these situations as of late,” Drummond instructed International Information. “It’s simply so costly to stay, it’s a disgrace actually. Waste of life.”
ABC Metropolis Coun. Peter Meiszner says the Christmas Day demise is very tragic as a result of “there are different choices for folks.”
As of 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, Meiszner stated there have been some 200 shelter areas accessible in Vancouver, with folks capable of name 211 to get linked.
“A mat on a ground, I do know will not be a long-term answer but it surely’s higher than a tent,” Meiszner stated. “Clearly there’s extra want than areas so we actually want the federal authorities to be extra concerned, B.C. provincial authorities is a good assist however we will’t do it on our personal.”
Because the housing disaster persists, these with no residence will proceed to make troublesome, typically harmful and generally lethal choices.
Not less than two folks had been nonetheless tenting beneath the Vancouver Conference Centre close to the scene of the deadly tent hearth when International Information visited the world Tuesday.
The Vancouver Police Division has not launched any info on the id of the one who died.
