After a series of damaging fires swept through the city-maintained encampment in January, residents of Tent City began asking for help, specifically as it pertains to fire safety. 

The encampment, which is called Tent City by those who live there is located adjacent to the Rail Trail at Richter Street and Weddell Place. Throughout the cold winter months, some of the devastating blazes have made headlines in 91大黄鸭, attracting attention from the surrounding community. 

However, Tent City residents say that the media鈥檚 depiction of the situation as a simple tent fire sparked by people ignoring the no-flame rule does not tell the full story of desperation and cold at the encampment. 

鈥淧eople are trying to follow the rules, but they need heat,鈥� said S, a long-term Tent City resident, who asked to remain anonymous for safety concerns. 

S said that there have been at least six major fires at the encampment since winter began at the end of 2023, in addition to many more small blazes.

While it is well known that it is against the rules to light a fire at the encampment, S said that people are wet, cold and desperate.

S has lost multiple friends and neighbours to cold exposure and has helped to care for many others with burn injuries over the past seven years that he has been experiencing homelessness.

Many of the fires at Tent City are caused by candles being used inside shelters as a means to stay warm, explained S.

A few days before speaking with Capital News, S himself had been involved in a blaze that had been started unintentionally by his neighbour. The fire started in the middle of the night when a candle in his neighbour鈥檚 tent lit their shelter on fire. The blaze quickly spread through the nylon and tarp shelter before spreading to S鈥� site. He said that while everyone escaped without major injury, his hands were scalded when he tried to rescue his cooler, which held all of his food.

He said that if fire extinguishers had been made available, it would have helped to extinguish the blaze quickly and safely. He said that having fire extinguishers on hand would make the seemingly inevitable fires safer for everyone.

There is also no running water at Tent City during the winter, which makes managing fire more difficult. Additionally, most residents at the encampment do not have a cell phone, making it difficult to contact the fire department in the event of a fire, explained S.

Erica Stewart, a Tent City resident and advocate for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness has also spoken out in favour of providing the city-maintained encampment with extinguishers. She said that she has had to rescue multiple people from burning tents during her time at the encampment.

Stewart said that every night that she goes to sleep she worries that her tent may light on fire from her own candles or as a result of a nearby out-of-control blaze.

In 91大黄鸭, all people experiencing unsheltered homelessness are required to sleep in Tent City. Currently, there are more than 100 people living in close quarters at the city-maintained site.

Shelter space in 91大黄鸭 is typically at or near capacity.provides a real-time look at bed availability in 91大黄鸭. However, despite the potential for vacancies at shelters, many Tent City residents are not welcome or able to use the organizations and resources as a result of past disputes.

At the time bylaw officers and the fire department worked to educate Tent City residents about fire safety and reorganized the encampment to accommodate for fire-safe spacing between tents.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got to find the balance between being too cold and fire,鈥� said the City of 91大黄鸭鈥檚 Fire Prevention Officer, Paul Johnson.

Johnson could not comment on whether providing Tent City residents with fire extinguishers is something that is feasible in the near future.

The city does provide 91大黄鸭鈥檚 unsheltered residents with