Woman flown to hospital after tent fire at Fort St. John homeless camp

FORT ST. JOHN -- A fire at a homeless encampment in Fort St. John has sent a woman to hospital with smoke inhalation.

The fire occurred in the early morning hours of Wednesday June 12^th in an empty lot on 100^th Avenue where three tents had been set up side-by-side.

Witnesses tell CJDC-TV News that a candle was burning in the tent at the time of the fire, the woman panicking trying to unzip the tent to escape.

She was pulled from the tent and flown to hospital in Vancouver, suffering from smoke inhalation.

The Fort St. John Fire Department responded to the fire, the tent fully engulfed when they arrived.

Fire fighters were quickly able to knock down the flames, with the burn marks still visible on the ground where the tent once sat.

Two days before the fire, during a regular council meeting, Councillor Trevor Bolin requested an update from staff on a bylaw proposed last year that would see soft-sided camping equipment banned in public parks and commercially zoned properties for overnight use.

“For those of you that remember this bylaw, it was certainly met with resistance from groups in the lower mainland, as well as from the human rights commission, who advised bylaws against homeless encampments were not legal,” said Bolin in a social media post.

Bolin is now requesting the bylaw go to a public hearing before being voted on.

“I made it a abundantly clear, this is a safety issue in our community to allow tents in public parks and high traffic commercially zoned locations,” said Bolin.

In an interview with CJDC-TV earlier this year, Mayor Lilia Hansen said the solution for homelessness is complex and requires compassion. 

“It's my understanding that there's some individuals that they don't want to be inside or they don't want to be in a shelter setting because of past trauma or they don't feel secure,” said Hansen.

Fort St. John RCMP Staff Sergeant Scott Watson has said there is currently nothing the department could do to dismantle encampments on public property.

“Can we remove them from an encampment that they set up, say, in Mathews Park or on civic property? No, we can't, and the courts have said that,” said Watson.

In April, the city received a $75,000 provincial grant to form a situation table that would help address public safety issues, reduce long-term demand on emergency services, leverage existing community support, and reduce crime risk.

“A bylaw such as this would give the city the ability to quickly and efficiently deal with these safety concerns,” finished Bolin in his social media post.