Encampment fire in downtown Halifax causes traffic disruptions

A fire at a Halifax encampment closed a ramp to a bridge for much of Tuesday.

An encampment fire in downtown Halifax caused traffic disruptions Tuesday morning.

Halifax Regional Police and Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency were called to the scene near North Street under the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge ramp around 6:30 a.m.

The fire was quickly extinguished and it’s believed no one was injured.

“(It’s a) fairly large encampment, fully involved and there wasn’t anybody around when we got here, so we are in the process of an investigation to see if anyone was home,” says Halifax Fire Captain Michael Sears.

Barrington Street was reduced to one lane in each direction around 6:30 a.m. It has since reopened.

The ramp to the Macdonald Bridge was also closed to traffic. Halifax Harbour Bridges sent staff to inspect the ramp before it was reopened to traffic Tuesday afternoon.

Fire damage

“We were able to go in and look at the damage that was done. It was quite a blaze right underneath the bridge. There was considerable damage because there was so much fire for such an extended period of time,” said Steve Proctor, communications manager for Halifax Harbour Bridges.

“They’re still looking at it, they’re taking samples. The concrete is impacted above 400 degrees, and there was definitely (a fire) above 400 degrees there, so they’re trying to figure out the extent of the damage.”

Proctor says the cost of construction will come from the province, as the bridge commission no longer has a budget.

‘We were concerned’

The bridge commission reached out to the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) after a fire in November, according to Proctor.

“We were concerned about the security of the bridge and having people living underneath the bridge with propane devices. That kind of thing creates the exact kind of risk that we’ve seen in November and today,” he said.

“We wrote to HRM and said this is an area of concern. We suggested [to] create a safe space. Obviously, nothing happened between November and now, but perhaps this will expedite those conversations.”

HRM’s director of Housing and Homelessness, Max Chauvin, said he is not aware of the conversations Proctor is referring to.

“The priority right now is what happened today,” said Max Chauvin, director of Housing and Homelessness for HRM. “(The goal is) to have people relocate, perhaps to different areas of the designated location, so that risk is lower and that everything can work together.”

Safe, supportive, and sustainable

According to Chauvin, three people were living in the tent structure that caught fire. He says the ultimate goal is to de-designate every encampment.

“We don’t need encampments anymore. So that’s the long-term goal, but in the short term though we’ll continue that as a designated site. We may look at repositioning where people set up based on this, but it will remain a designated encampment site for the meantime,” said Chauvin.

The goal, according to Chauvin, is that everyone has housing that is safe, supportive, and sustainable.

“It’s all about how fast we can create the housing that’s necessary,” he said.

“I think people are frustrated with how long it perhaps is taking to ensure that there’s suitable housing for everybody, but I still hear the same things from every Haligonian I talk to, which is compassion for people and some frustration.”

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Hafsa Arif

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