Tractors were at Nanaimo’s DisconTent City on Friday hauling out piles of trash after a fire in a tent this week.
This is the first major cleanup to eliminate fire hazards on the city-owned property at 1 Port Dr. The work was authorized last week under an order from the B.C. Supreme Court.
“We are enforcing the fire order so we do have a cleanup crew on site here today,” Nanaimo Fire Chief Karen Fry said from the tent city on Friday. “It’s the first real big one that we have done at the site.”
Many residents are helping, said Fry, who is also director of public safety.
“Most of them are very co-operative and there are some of them that are quite thankful that we are helping them move their excess,” she said.
“As always, we are trying to do it in the most respectful manner, appreciating that this is where a lot of these people have lived for several months.”
An Oct. 19 court decision allows campers to remain in the five-month-old tent city until Nov. 30, provided certain conditions are met.
The provincial government has bought modular housing that it is fixing up to supply 170 homes to tent city residents. The housing is slated to be available at the end of next month. The province is aiming to find market rental housing for another 50 campers.
Campers had until Thursday night to comply with the fire order. “So we are on site here [Friday] helping the residents come into compliance,” Fry said.
City fire inspectors, staff from the public works department, bylaw staff and contractors are working on the project.
The work includes ensuring there are no flammable fuel products such as gasoline and propane inside tents.
As of Thursday, there were about 150 tents and structures at the tent city.
Crews were removing structures, Fry said, including a wood-frame kitchen.
Two tractors collected debris. As of midday Friday, three large storage bins had been taken away and emptied, she said.
B.C. Housing is covering the cost of the contractors hired to remove the items, she said.
Fry said Thursday’s fire was due to the use of open flames inside a tent. The woman involved in the fire was back at tent city Friday, she said, adding that the woman did not appear to be seriously injured.
The court order included a provision that those who are genuinely homeless must identify themselves to city officials by Oct. 25. Those who fail to do so may be removed by police.
Fry said she did not yet have a full list of homeless residents. “We are waiting to work with B.C. Housing on what that looks like.”
Amber McGrath, Alliance Against Displacement spokeswoman and a Nanaimo resident, estimates there are still more than 200 campers at the tent city. She said more than 100 are not on the list for the modular supportive housing. “There just weren’t enough spots,” she said.
As well, some campers do not want to move into supportive housing, which requires an agreement with the contracted service provider. “I don’t know where they are going to go,” McGrath said.
