Blaze that guts North Kamloops homeless encampment 'could have been way worse'

Encampment 'fully engulfed'

Photo: Kristen Holliday

KFR extinguished a fire that started behind the 200-block of Royal Avenue on Tuesday night.

Firefighters had to cut through a fence to access a blaze on Tuesday night after flames engulfed a homeless encampment along the Thompson River in North Kamloops.

Jeff Freeze, Kamloops Fire Rescue captain, said no injuries were reported in the fire.

Emergency crews were called to a landscape fire in the 200-block of Royal Avenue at about 7:15 p.m.

Freeze said they arrived and saw flames behind the construction site at 209 Royal Ave. — where the Thompson Landing development is being built. Crews gained access to the fire through the neighbouring property.

“[We] cut some fences, got around the corner — fully engulfed homeless camp,” he said.

Firefighters were able to tackle the blaze before too much damage was done.

“The encampment had propane cylinders and a bunch of very hazardous stuff that was involved,” he said. “It could have been way worse than it was.”

Freeze said a City of Kamloops Community Services Officer attended and checked nearby encampments to see if there was anyone missing, but everyone was accounted for.

Freeze said property damage was limited to a few panels of wood fencing surrounding the new development, along with a wire fence KFR had to cut in order to gain access to the site.