VANCOUVER - Occupy Vancouver protesters will be ordered to rearrange their tents, get rid of others and remove tarps after fire officials issued a warning that the site is becoming a fire hazard.
Capt. Gabe Roder, of the Vancouver Fire Department, said by 10 a.m. Friday, the protesters must stop using open flames and flammable heat sources, must remove unoccupied tents and must better space out occupied ones.
It's not clear what the city will do if the protesters refuse to comply. Roder said demonstrators have ignored a previous order banning fuels of any kind at the downtown camp.
Anthony, a spokesman for the camp who would only give his first name, said the issue would be considered at a meeting of the protesters, but he said he didn't expect any heavy-handed action by authorities.
"If it's not done by 10 a.m. I don't imagine they'll be bringing police in here and trying to evict us," he said.
The latest order comes after a heroin overdose at the camp earlier Thursday.
Fire crews and paramedics had trouble getting into the site to treat the man. The man survived because a medic was on duty at the camp, where protesters also tried to bar the media and ended up scuffling with reporters trying to cover the incident.
"Fire medics and (B.C. Ambulance) paramedics had to overcome several obstacles to reach and extricate the patient," Roder said in a statement.
"Had this been a fire and deadly smoke emergency, firefighters would have been very challenged to perform rescue operations. "
Roder says emergency personnel discovered two propane tanks in the enclosed area, despite the earlier ban on them.
Roder said Occupy Vancouver representatives have been working with the fire department to ensure safety concerns are met.
But the changing weather, which included an icy deluge of hail and rain mid-day Thursday, has prompted demonstrators to erect large tarps over multiple tents.
The enclosure are a "significant safety concern," Roder said.
Earlier this week, Vancouver police Chief Jim Chu told city council his officers would be reluctant to remove protesters without the city obtaining a court order for them to do so first.
Chu said experience in other cities has shown forcing the occupiers to leave has simply encouraged them to encamp somewhere else.
City manager Penny Ballem said getting a court injunction would be difficult if there aren't serious health and safety issues.
What to do with the Occupy Vancouver protesters has become an election issue in the lead-up to the Nov. 19 civic vote.
Occupy spokesman Anthony said he thinks the order by the fire department is politically motivated.
"Personally, I think some of it is being pushed forward because of the election, and we all know this has been made a political issue. But if there are genuine concerns, then I have no issues with them being dealt with."
Mayor Gregor Robertson said the situation at the camp is deteriorating but he's still not ready to shut it down.
He said negotiations are continuing with the protesters to end the occupation, but there's no timeline.
"The timeline is as long as it takes to end this sensibly and without violence.
"We've seen this repeatedly now in the cities that have set a hard date and that have gone in with an aggressive intervention. We've seen violence, we've seen arrests and we've seen the problem get worse. We've seen more protesters come to the site and entrenchment happen."
