City posts warning signs on Moccasin Flats buildings

It was -29 C Thursday morning with a wind out of the north that made it feel like -40 C when two City of Prince George pickups rolled into Moccasin Flats.

The purpose of the city’s visit was to post signs on the more permanent buildings that serve as makeshift homes in the camp to warn residents those structures are not approved and could pose safety hazards.

“We go through the camp on a regular basis and we check any of the new structures and unfortunately none of them are compliant with the building code and people haven’t gone through the permitting process,” said Charlotte Peters, manager of bylaw services.

“So it becomes incumbent on the city to put up the ‘Do Not Occupy’ and ‘Stop Work’ orders. Obviously with the situation with the result of the court case (which gave residents the right to live in the camp) and the current climate with homelessness it’s not going to be something that’s enforced. It’s just to make sure that we go through the process.

“Sure, liability plays into it, but ultimately the City of Prince George wants people to be safe. We want people to stay in structures that aren’t going to fall down around them and end up with somebody getting hurt.”

With the arrival of bone-chilling temperatures this week, there’s more likelihood people will be using propane heat sources to survive in their shelters and with that the danger of fires increases substantially.

Fire crews were called out to Moccasin Flats to at least a dozen structure fires in the past year and the risk of fire is always there considering flammable material such as plastic tarps is often used in the shelters.

Structures with chimneys caught the attention of Clayton Sheen, deputy fire chief for Prince George Fire Rescue, who joined the city entourage posting notices. He said none of the heat sources used in the camp make him feel at ease about the potential threat they pose to the occupants.

Sheen says he visits the site at least once a week to check on any unreported fires and to ensure fire trucks will have access and nothing is blocking the fire lane marked by concrete dividers on either side of the road for the length of the camp.

“Our hydrants are at the far end and if we don’t get to those hydrants you only have the water on your truck,” said Sheen.  “In this cold weather we’re more likely to have an incident.”

Sheen was surprised at how deserted the camp was and saw many of the shelters had no footprints leading up to them since the snow that fell on Tuesday. There are only about 20 residents sticking it out thought the cold. Most other camp residents have found shelters or warming centres to escape the winter weather.