Residents of Anita Place Tent City fear a fire at the camp Sunday evening was deliberately set.
Around 7:30 p.m., camp residents heard a “bang,” then the sound of a vehicle speeding off.
Dwayne, a camp organizer, heard the commotion, grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran to help put the fire out.
But it grew too fast, he said.
“I was trying to make sure nobody was in there.”
The fire department arrived within 10 minutes, he added, and put out the rest of the fire.
It destroyed an unoccupied tent, and the blast knocked over two others.
The fire occurred near 223rd Street, said Dwayne, who lives in a shack he constructed at tent city.
“It was right on the fence line,” he said.
“It’s been done before.”
He said it is the third time in 18 months a tent has been set on fire at the camp. Twice previously gas cans were set up against tents and ignited, he added.
Dwayne is unsure if the fire department or RCMP, who also attended, are going to investigate the latest fire.
Fire destroyed a tent just after Christmas last year.
The fire department has conducted numerous safety inspections at the camp and has long sought to improve safety there, such as having gas cans removed.
The fire department even considered seeking a compliance order from the B.C. Supreme Court.
Dwayne is concerned for the safety of camp residents, not just because of the fire, but also the cold.
“This is a hard time of year,” he said.
Camp residents, estimated to be 80, have no heat sources, he added. They are not allowed to have open flames, or use generators or car batteries.
Without heat, though, Dwayne said, they will die.
“We’ll freeze to death.”
Fearing that, he added, camp residents will do what they have to do to survive.
A warming tent was added to the camp last December, followed by washrooms and a shower.
But Dwayne said campers still need to be warm when they sleep.
“Tell us what we can use,” he said.
“People are going to die because of stupid choices. But it’s survival. You have to do things to keep warm. We don’t have a lot of money, we don’t have a lot of options.”
