With overnight temperatures dropping, sleeping outside and in tents is getting tough, leaving those experiencing homelessness in Kelowna, B.C., getting desperate to keep warm.
“They’re using candles inside their tents. They’re using propane heaters inside of the tents,” said Paul Johnson, fire prevention officer with the Kelowna Fire Department.
“It’s got huge ramifications. You know, nylon and flame is not a good mixture.”
Johnson said that this weekend alone, fire crews responded to five fires linked to people trying to beat the cold across the city.
“There’s definitely an increase in people trying to stay warm, who are experiencing homelessness, people living outside,” Johnson said.
While most of the fires were small, one of them, along Enterprise Way, spread into nearby bushes.
“One actually was a substantial fire, which got into the bush, gave us about a 30-by-30-foot fire in the trees and the grasses,” Johnson said.
There has been a dramatic increase in people sleeping outdoors in recent months including at the city-designated outdoor sheltering site in the downtown’s north end, where a tent fire was also sparked a couple of weeks ago.
With local shelters filled to capacity, there is a dire and urgent need for more shelter space as the weather turns.
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The new Bay Avenue shelter, which opened several weeks ago now, can accommodate up to 60 people but it’s only operating at half capacity because of staffing issues amid the current labour shortage.
But even once the shelter does open up those remaining 30 spots, there will still be dozens of people left out in the cold.
“Huge concern,” said Michael Morrison, development resource officer with the Gospel Mission, which operates the Bay Avenue shelter.
“Weather is kind of OK now, but it can change quite rapidly and our concern is that these people are going to be out on the streets. Our outreach department is out there, helping those on the streets but we need to give them a warm bed.”
Global News reached out to the City of Kelowna to ask what the plans are for an emergency winter shelter but no one was available to comment.
The executive director of Journey Home, which is working to combat homelessness by 2025, wasn’t available for an interview. However, in a message to Global News, Stephanie Gauthier said, “Work is continuing with Journey Home, the City and BC Housing, to identify new spaces and options for winter shelter.
“We are also working closely with community partners to ensure we can meet the needs of people currently outdoors as best as possible in terms of providing food, warm clothing, sleeping gear, etc.”
Gauthier went on to say that Journey home is also working on an extreme weather response, which it mobilizes when temperatures drop to -10 and colder.
“This is focused around an emergency mat program, in additional spaces to address the risk of loss of life for people who may still be outdoors.”
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