Downtown Eastside ‘tent city’ clear-out deadline won’t be met

A stretch of East Hastings Street on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is supposed to be cleared of tents and other temporary structures on Thursday. But that’s highly unlikely to happen.

Advocates for the unhoused have been wondering where people who are living in the “tent city” are supposed to go, especially following the loss of places like the Winters Hotel to fire. They’re calling for continued compassion and time.

Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services (VFRS) Chief Karen Fry issued the order Monday for the immediate removal of the structures by Thursday.

VFRS freely admits Thursday’s deadline won’t be met but Capt. Matthew Trudeau says access to windows and doors is crucial in the event of a fire or any other emergency. He notes crews have already pulled out 20 20-pound propane tanks.

“Our public education team has been educating some of the members in the area, providing information about how serious this is and how dangerous the consequences could be. The chief has said before — this could be catastrophic,” he said.

“So far this year in that area, we’ve seen 816 outdoor fires and fires of structures already centred in that vicinity,” he added.

As of Wednesday, there were about 150 structures in the area.

The City of Vancouver says in a statement says the first phase of the process to remove the structures is “is focussed on providing people with information and voluntary removal,” and ends August 2.

“The second phase, anticipated to begin on August 3rd, will include City staff support for the removal of structures.”

It says city representatives will hand out leaflets to tents on Thursday.

“The notice … will also be made available to people on East Hastings on Friday through posters that will be set up in the area.”

Read more:

• When DTES ‘tent city’ is dismantled, advocates wonder where the unhoused go

• Vancouver fire chief orders immediate removal of tents along East Hastings Street

Sarah Blyth, executive director of the Overdose Prevention Society, previously told CityNews while she understands the reasoning behind the decision, she fears people experiencing homelessness in the area won’t have enough living options in the area.

“There’s construction in the alley behind the zero block, there’s construction in the alley behind the 100-block which is where a large population of homeless people are, and have been for years,” explained Sarah Blyth, executive director of the Overdose Prevention Society.

Judy Graves, a former advocate for the unhoused at the City of Vancouver, worries about a lack of space, but supports the decision from the city and agrees safety hazards have become immense.

“We have very little vacancy in this province. I think that there are some rooms that are vacant in the Interior properties. There may be a few others in other not-for-profits, but there will not be enough for everybody,” Graves said on Tuesday.

The order from VFRS came as the community was left reeling following several recent structure fires.

Two people were killed April 11 at the Winters hotel in Gastown, leaving another 144 displaced. One person died June 11 after a fire at the Hotel Empress, an SRO on East Hastings Street. Another large fire at the Vancouver Street Church on July 6 flattened the community hub and forced the evacuation of 80 people in nearby housing.

With files from Michael Williams and Kier Junos