Suspected arson destroys shelter in Dartmouth homeless encampment
DARTMOUTH, N.S. — A fire ripped through a wooden structure that provided shelter to unhoused people at a designated encampment site in Dartmouth on Friday morning.
Halifax fire crews were called to the Green Road encampment in Dartmouth shortly after 11 a.m. on Friday. The structure was fully involved when firefighters arrived but it was quickly extinguished. There were no reported injuries.
Const. John MacLeod with Halifax Regional Police said that while the investigation is in the early stages, police believe the fire was deliberately set and are asking anyone with information to contact them.
It’s far from the first of these sheds that have caught fire, said Deputy Mayor Sam Austin (Dartmouth Centre), who has spoken out previously on his concerns for these temporary shelters.
“This would be at least the third that has burned in Dartmouth and I know there are Halifax ones too. The building-code ones that the Catholic churches have, there have been no fires at all,” he said in a phone interview on Friday.
Having a structure that is built right while also having the support of the church makes a big difference, he said.
“It’s people trying to survive, right? Like, how do you keep warm in a place that has no heat, how do you cook anything?”
The encampment is in one of five original municipal parks designated for camping. Earlier this month, council voted to open up more sites for encampments as the city’s homeless population continues to grow. As of July there are 178 people who are sleeping rough and city staff said they believe that number has grown.
Fire in Dartmouth @HRMFireNews pic.twitter.com/i4wCWv4fRj
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Austin said and the municipality hasn’t been removing sheds from encampment sites that people are using.
When city crews tried to remove similar shelters in Aug.18, 2021, it led to a massive protest and arrests. A review of the police actions that day is underway.
“The problem with these unsanctioned sheds is they don’t meet the building code and the rate of fire in them has been really significant really, so they’re not a great solution but we need better options,” Austin said.
