It was a busy Tuesday afternoon for Regina fire crews, as a tent encampment caught fire in the downtown area of the Queen City.
The fire left one person injured, who was taken to hospital by EMS.
Around 12:40 p.m. on Tuesday, the fire was reported on the 1800 block of Halifax Street, just steps away from Carmicheal Outreach, where a different encampment had been located.
Smoke clouds could be seen from around the downtown area, and witnesses reported a loud bang.
In a statement early Wednesday, the fire department said the cause of the fire was due to the misuse of an open flame device.
“The fire started inside an individual tent near the victim,” the statement said. The fire wasn’t set intentionally.
Chrysta Garner, the development coordinator at Carmicheal Outreach, said she was scared for the community during Tuesday’s fire.
“It was a large fire, very fast,” Garner said.
“When the fire happened, we had to go into a lockdown situation. It was to protect the people that were inside our building. But anybody that was seeking refuge or seeking help was able to come and use our resources and come use our building for safety,” Garner said.
Throughout the summer and fall in Regina, Regina Fire has responded to multiple fires in homeless encampments.
Fires at the homeless encampment in front of city hall caused Regina Fire to decommission the encampment all together. At its height, there were 83 tents on the grounds.
As Regina moves into winter, Garner said there needs to be more shelter spaces for the homeless community.
“We need more places for everybody,” she said. “There’s a lot of hoops that they have to go through, and they just want to have a place where they can just go and warm up for a little bit and be safe.”
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