Residents of the “Anita’s Place” homeless camp in Maple Ridge are concerned for their safety after a fire destroyed one of their tents on Thursday, and think it was done deliberately.
Alliance Against Displacement organizer Listen Chen says the alleged attack makes them feel the community is completely against them.
“They’re concerned that they’ve been attacked verbally and physically throughout the time that they’ve formed a community in the tent city. And I think that’s a concern more about their safety than about how people perceive them, although it’s certainly interconnected.”
The city and residents came to an agreement last month to remove an injunction asking the homeless to move until the province developed a plan for housing.
“The fire department has yet to approve a source of heat for the residents. So it’s putting them in a double bind. Aside from the material support that they’re getting from BC Housing, there’s been no intervention from anybody with any power to try to shut down the ‘poor-bashing’ and bigotry that continues to affect people’s lives there.”
The Maple Ridge Fire Department has not returned a request for comment concerning the alleged arson.