Two people were found dead after fires were put out at homeless encampments in central Edmonton this past weekend, the Edmonton Police Service confirmed.
One of the fires happened Saturday night. Police said emergency crews responded around 7:15 p.m. to a tent fire in an encampment behind a shelter near 100th Street and 105A Avenue, where the Hope Mission’s Herb Jamieson Centre is.
It was reported to police that the tent was occupied at the time by a 54-year-old man, who succumbed to his injuries.
“While the initial investigation does not appear to be suspicious, final determination is pending the Edmonton Fire Rescue Services’ (EFRS) investigation and any findings of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner,” police said.
Then on Sunday afternoon sometime between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., crews also responded to another tent fire in an encampment near 95th Street and 105th Avenue in the Boyle Street neighbourhood.
An unidentified woman, believed to be in her mid-20s, was discovered dead inside a multi-layered tent once the fire was extinguished.
EFRS did not say how the person died, but noted the fatality was “associated with a fire.”
A Global News crew at the scene Monday saw what appeared to be a homeless encampment that had been cordoned off with police tape. A number of items in the encampment appeared to have been charred by fire.
Edmonton police said the fire remains under investigation at this time, pending reports from both EFRS and the medical examiner.
Edmonton fire also said the blaze is currently under investigation but did not provide further details.
Staff Sgt. Michael Dreilich with the Edmonton Police Service spoke to Global News on Tuesday and said the number of “encampment fires with injuries is quite high … It’s alarming.”
He said in one of the weekend fatalities, firefighters witnessed “a person on fire coming out of the encampment” while at the other one, firefighters discovered a body after putting out the fire.
Speaking broadly and not necessarily about this weekend’s fires, Dreilich said people who live in encampments rely on fires which is why they can lead to fires getting out of control so often.
“It’s cold, and a tent doesn’t retain any kind of heat,” he said. “So it’s a source for … cooking food, but also for keeping warm throughout the year.
“(People) deserve to have appropriate shelter space for their given needs. And that’s something that we’re trying to work hard with the city and the city’s working hard with the province to try to come up with those appropriate shelter spaces.”