MONCTON, N.B. – A community advocate is worried abandoned buildings will be a problem for those without a home again this winter.
Sue Calhoun says people who don’t want to stay in shelters often seek other places to stay out of the elements.
“As it gets colder it becomes more of a concern that they try to find places that are available to them that do not necessarily have any heating in them so any heating they create is a make-shift heating system,” she said, noting she doesn’t want to see a repeat of what happened last November.
That’s when a man believed to be homeless died when an abandoned building caught fire in the city’s downtown.
Investigators couldn’t say what caused the fire, but the man’s body was found where the fire started.
“We don’t want to see that happening again,” she said. “But when they’re working with makeshift heating systems like candles or something else to keep warm it becomes a real possibility.”
Since then, the fire department’s been boarding up abandoned buildings.
Charles LeBlanc is the division chief and says at least twenty buildings have been boarded up or secured.
Standing outside a recently boarded up building, he says despite their efforts, people continue to try and break in the buildings.
“As you can tell on the ground that was bedding that was removed prior to us boarding it up so this was a frequent area where people tried to get in,” he said.
He says the fire department deems these buildings a risk at any time of the year. But with winter approaching, LeBlanc says the fire department is doing it what it can to keep these buildings closed up.
“Each one of these buildings is focused on individually,” he said. “Basically at the end of the day is to make sure they’re secure and safe.”
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