Fire at Maple Ridge homeless camp under investigation

Explosion and fires at camp for homeless The City of Maple Ridge says propane tanks were found after an explosion and fires broke out at a homeless camp.

The City of Maple Ridge is seeking a new injunction at the Anita Place homeless camp following a pair of recent fires.

Firefighters were called to the site two times within a matter of hours Wednesday, dousing fires that destroyed a total of four tents and damaged several trees.

Video shot by a neighbour during the first fire shows flames shooting up and black smoke billowing into the sky. At one point, a loud explosion is heard.

“It was unbelievable,” said neighbour Lauralee Fraser, who witnessed the fire. “All of a sudden this boom, boom, and the flames went up.”

On the weekend firefighters and city staff went into the camp and removed about 100 propane tanks and gasoline canisters, generators and other potential fire hazards from the site as part of a court-ordered injunction to address safety concerns.

A woman living in one of the tents suffered burns when a fire broke out in December.

On Thursday, the City of Maple Ridge said crews had found "a significant quantity of ignition sources and accelerants" back at the homeless camp, and that it would be seeking another injunction in B.C. Supreme Court.

"The significant risk of ignition sources and accelerants on the site is an unacceptable risk in our community. The safety of camp occupants, the surrounding neighbourhoods and the first responders are the highest priority," the city said in a statement.

The causes of the fires that broke out on Wednesday are still under investigation. The city said a number of destroyed propane cylinders and propane appliances were found in the aftermath.

During one of the fires, a camp resident told CTV News he grabbed a fire extinguisher from a construction site across the street and tried to put out the flames.

Fortunately, no one was injured, but the tent and everything in it was destroyed.

“Where are they supposed to go, what are they supposed to do, right? It’s horrible,” Fraser said.

Another neighbour who only identified herself as Beau questioned why more wasn’t being done to assist people in the camp.

“Freeze to death or burn to death, that’s just a horrible option, and these people need to be housed,” she said.

The RCMP said officers also arrested six people at the camp over the weekend for alleged violations of the injunction and other offences.

“We need to help these people, not hinder them, and this is all Maple Ridge has done,” Beau said.

The Pivot Legal Society is appealing the court order, calling the enforcement “heavy-handed."

The Anita Place camp formed nearly two years ago as a protest over affordable housing and the closure of a shelter.