One Upper Patricia Boulevard area resident has seen plenty of change in recent years with Moccasin Flats growing nearby on Lower Patricia Boulevard.
“There’s been an increase in crime, we’ve had a bike stolen out of our backyard and we’ve had parcels stolen off our front step,” Lynn Bergmann, who lives in the Millar Addition, said. “The biggest thing we’re worried about it is the fires.”
Smoke from the fires lit by residents of Moccasin Flats is becoming more and more frequent as temperatures dip.
Bergmann said she’s concerned about all the wooden structures being built to create shelter as those could be fuel for a fire so great it would threaten the Upper Patricia Boulevard neighbourhood that’s only about 50 feet up a treed embankment.
A couple of weeks ago, Bergman said, there was an alarmingly large fire and shouts could be heard in the early morning hours from Moccasin Flats residents warning that there was live ammunition in the dwelling on fire and soon after a series of shots could be heard as the ammunition exploded.
“We’re worried about fire from down below coming up to this neighbourhood,” Bergmann said, gesturing to a scorched tree visible from the edge of Upper Patricia Boulevard.
As we approached the top edge of the embankment, Bergmann has to raise her voice to be heard.
“The noise from the generators gets worse and worse during the winter,” Bergmann said. “I know they have to be here but it’s also up to the city to provide provisions for them.”
There are two outhouses near one end of Lower Patricia Boulevard, and water provided at the other end but there are no showers or laundry facilities, Bergmann explained.
“If this is a city-mandated encampment, I think they should be provided for as well,” Bergmann said. “I know they have the new sobering centre on Second Avenue but that’s not enough.”
Bergmann worries about violence at Moccasin Flats as well.
“I heard people say they were at Millennium Park because they didn’t feel safe at this encampment,” Bergmann said. “They have to have safety, too. There’s so much combustible stuff down there. It’s just going to take… I mean there’s propane tanks all over the place that could explode and it’s just frustrating.”
In her work as a health professional, Bergmann said she supported displaced children who were affected by their parents’ drug and alcohol use.
“I don’t see a solution,” Bergmann said. “I really don’t."
