Vancouver begins tent removal along East Hastings Street

Crews in Vancouver have begun removing shelters and other structures that have made up a “tent city” along a section of East Hastings Street on the Downtown Eastside. Police are also in the area.

The city says work to remove the structures between Gore Avenue and Abbott Street is being done “with those sheltering outdoors,” and is expected to last weeks.

The process started with structures that have been deemed to be in the “highest risk areas.”

“With the amount of combustibles, in moving stuff, moving people’s property out of the way, it was just deemed necessary to have VPD involvement in the area,” said Captain Matt Trudeau with Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.

The removal comes after deadlines passed for those living on the street to pack up.

The city says it’s arranged for temporary storage for those who are being displaced to keep their belongings in as they relocate.

“We recognize that this work will have an emotional impact on the community and everyone involved. City staff will be seeking to conduct the work with thoughtfulness and care of the residents and their circumstances,” the city says in a release.

On July 25, Vancouver’s fire chief issued an order for the immediate removal of the structures within three days. The deadline was initially extended to Aug. 3, only to be again postponed another week.

At the time, VFRS admitted that the deadline would likely not be met. However, members stressed the importance of access to windows and doors in the event of an emergency.

“Overall, that’s the majority of where our fires are occurring, our alarms are occurring … our incendiary fires, our arson fires are all occurring down there,” Trudeau told CityNews.

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Anna Cooper a lawyer with Pivot Legal Society admits fire safety is important. However, she argues city crews are not considering other safety issues in this sweep, “including simply how unsafe it is to shelter alone, and that when people are force-evicted from Hastings, that is what will happen.”

“A quick scan through the media stories of unhoused people being severely injured and dying from fires, it’s overwhelmingly going to show you that people were isolated when that happened, not in congregate settings,” she said.

She believes the city needs to rework its zoning rules to allow more affordable housing and to change bylaws which she claims effectively target people who live outside.

Cooper notes it can sometimes be safer for people to live outside, especially if local SROs are unlivably hot.

“Being on the street isn’t okay, but being on the street under a tarp is better than being on the street with nothing overtop of you.”

Police and city staff used to clear tents and belongings off East Hastings Street every morning, but that stopped at the beginning of July after years of opposition from advocates.

While the tent city has raised safety concerns, some people are worried about what the removal of the structures will mean for those who are living there.

-With files from Kier Junos and Kareem Gouda