Cold weather heats up fire service prevention officer’s work in homeless camps

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This article was published 01/11/2023 (675 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s unexpectedly early start to winter has left many in the city’s homeless population scrambling to stay warm.

That frequently translates into risky and potentially catastrophic sources of heat inside extremely flammable tents and makeshift shelters in the encampments that dot the city’s riverbanks, vacant lots and parks.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service prevention officer Steve Antle is trying to get the word out as quickly as he can.

“We are seeing the rise already in instances where folks are admitting to me that they’re using candles, often they’re using hand sanitizer — to burn hand sanitizer in a small bowl to keep warm,” Antle told the Free Press.

“Folks are even heating up rocks, having the fire outside, heating the rocks and trying to insulate the rocks and bring them in just to increase it a couple degrees.”

Firefighters responded to a total of 450 fires involving homeless people between January and the end of September, WFPS statistics show.

The emergency service began collecting hard statistics on those fires — typically blazes reported at camps — last December.

Antle said he cannot remember a worse year for fires in encampments.

“They’re stuck between a rock and a hard place,” he said. “They don’t want to freeze to death, and none of them want to die from carbon monoxide poisoning or dying in a fire, but as the mercury drops, it’s a real concern for them.”

Antle officially began conducting fire-safety outreach at camps at the end of last year, but had informally been doing the work for some time.

As the weather conditions worsen, the safety outreach shifts to focus more urgently on getting people living in the encampments access to shelter, housing and income supports, working with other service providers.

Some camps have already been abandoned as residents have found some kind of temporary indoor shelter during the winter, but not all of them can do so.

“For some of the folks that we engage with in the community, they don’t have another option. They have, sometimes but not always, had a bad past with some of the shelters, whether they’ve been assaulted or other things,” he said.

“Some of the people that we’ve been engaging with, they have been banned from shelters, with nowhere else to go. It’s heartbreaking.”

So while the goal is to direct people to shelters and other supports, he spends a significant amount of his day explaining the dangers of using heat sources in tents, including carbon monoxide risks.

“The nuts and bolts of it is we’re trying to save lives, that is what our department is — on our shoulder flash, it says, ‘We hold thee safe’ — whether that’s somebody living in a building or in an encampment, we care about these individuals,” he said.

Shelters are working together to ensure people are able to find a bed or other supports they need, said Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, CEO of Siloam Mission on Princess Street.

The organization’s 146-bed shelter had already been at capacity for more than than a month when demand increased as a result of last week’s cold and snowy weather.

“We certainly see an uptick in folks that were perhaps living in encampments and are trying to get back inside,” said Blaikie Whitecloud.

When the shelter is full, staff work with other agencies to find places for people who have nowhere else to go.

Demand outstrips capacity every winter. Blaikie Whitecloud said the situation highlights the need for more affordable housing units in Winnipeg.

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“We are going to keep having this issue every winter,” she said.

Demand for meals has doubled since she became head of the Christian humanitarian organization two years ago.

Siloam Mission, which begins winter preparations in May, is accepting donations of warm clothing and outerwear to support the needs of vulnerable Manitobans, said Blaikie Whitecloud.

— with files from Chris Kitching

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.