A series of explosions that sent a plume of smoke into the sky and damaged a 10-metre swath of forest near Gates Park Wednesday afternoon is raising concerns about the safety of homeless camps in Port Coquitlam.
Coquitlam RCMP and Port Coquitlam Fire and Emergency Services responded to calls about the explosions, which occurred at approximately 3 p.m. in a heavily forested area near the park that is popular with walkers, sports teams and exercise enthusiasts.
“This was a sizeable event,” Cpl. Michael McLaughlin told The Tri-City News. “The explosions were pretty large, there was damage to foliage and there was a fire that the fire department needed to control.”
The two occupants of the camp were not at the scene and no one was injured.
Reports indicate there were two, possibly three blasts, and when firefighters arrived, they saw a large blaze that had engulfed a pile of debris and was burning the grass and nearby bushes.
Incoming Port Coquitlam fire chief Robert Kipps said it was hard to determine what materials or structures were in the fire, it was so intense.
“There was nothing more than just a giant fireball,” Kipps said.
But the exact cause of the blaze has not been determined, although there were two 20-lb. propane tanks the scene, Kipps said.
“They saw the fire, spotted the propane, backed out, got a water supply and did a defence attack,” he said, noting that firefighters connected their hoses to water near Pajo’s, pulled them across to the fire, which was about 100 metres into the woods, taking about about 2.5 hours to completely knock down the blaze and mop up.
For one local hiker, the explosion was a surprise, and he quickly called emergency services.
“I heard the bangs and I saw this big plume of smoke, and there was another lady who saw it, too,” Carl Ronka said "I cut across the park and I could smell burning plastic.”
Ronka told The Tri-City News he has been disturbed of late about the size and number of homeless camps in the area, the amount of litter that is piling up in the lower reaches of the river and the possibility of fire danger that camping in the forest could cause.
“I’ve been noticing the problem is getting really bad. A few things I haven’t been able to pull out of the river myself. There’s at least six shopping carts in the river,” said Ronka.
A longtime resident who often pulls trash and bulky items from the Coquitlam River and shoreline, and posts about the litter he collects on Instagram (@the.web.of.life), Ronka said some people don’t seem to care about the river when they dump their mattresses and other junk or leave litter behind. Eventually, it all flows down the river and ends up in the southern reaches, clogging up the river where salmon come to spawn, he said.
“There’s more people in the area, so there’s more people going down and recreating in the river. A chunk of those people don’t have the same value of cleaning up the mess.”
Police confirmed the homeless camp was destroyed in the explosion. But for any charges to be laid, Mounties would have to find evidence of negligence or criminality, McLaughlin said.
Police also fear a fire risk from homeless camps in the woods.
“It’s not unusual in homeless camps to come across a large number of fuel canisters in various stages of being full or empty. That’s one of the major concerns about homeless camps — the concern about fuel,” McLaughlin said.
A spokesperson for the city of Port Coquitlam said the camp was known to the city and the occupants were asked to move.
“We are working with the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, who are providing them assistance in trying to secure housing,” said Paula Jones, the city’s bylaw services manager.
