City clears fire-plagued Higgins Avenue homeless camp

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This article was published 13/12/2022 (742 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City crews have dismantled a homeless camp after it was damaged by multiple fires and officials decided it was too dangerous to remain in place.

Temporary structures at the site, which stretches from 44 to 58 Higgins Ave., were demolished Tuesday.

The removal came after repeated fires at the property, including blazes last Friday, Dec. 5 and Oct. 30, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said. It is believed that propane tanks exploded at the site on Oct. 30.

“The WFPS community liaison has worked with encampment residents at this site to reduce the risk of fire or other emergencies. In this case, the risks could not be mitigated, and the risk to life safety required that the encampment be vacated,” WFPS spokeswoman Erin Madden said in a written statement.

The city issued an order to vacate the camp at 4 p.m. Friday, a few hours after responding to the early afternoon fire.

“The order was issued in response to a number of ongoing safety concerns at the site that had not been mitigated. Many residents at this encampment had left in (the) past few weeks, with a few residents confirmed to be at the encampment on Monday, prior to (the) closure,” said Madden.

WFPS says the city worked closely with outreach services to help encampment residents find alternate housing before issuing the order. Public works staff later cleared out items that residents left behind, the city said. WFPS said its community liaison also visited the homeless camp “many times” this year to help mitigate risks and connect vulnerable folks with housing and other supports.

“The City of Winnipeg is committed to working with partner agencies and other governments to find long-term solutions for supporting unsheltered Winnipeggers,” said Madden.

The onset of winter temperatures and a growing number of tent shelters in Winnipeg have sparked a recent increase in such fires. More than two dozen blazes have been reported at homeless camps since Halloween, including 21 in November.

WFPS previously told the Free Press it can be difficult to determine the exact cause of each blaze, though explosions from small propane heaters pose a major concern, as people seek ways to keep warm outdoors.

Efforts to reduce the fire risk at encampments have ramped up since February 2021, when one person at an encampment on Higgins Avenue was killed after an aerosol can exploded in a fire.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga