Growing number of encampments strains fire department’s resources

The growing number of homeless encampments in Saskatoon is straining bylaw inspector resources within the Saskatoon Fire Department, according to chief Doug Wegren.

That’s one of the reasons the department is requesting two more fire bylaw inspectors to add to its team of four, along with one additional vehicle. The cost is estimated at $181,500.

The other reason came up during the Sept. 24 city council meeting, when a request was made to find out what it would take for the fire department to provide the same level of service to a new emergency shelter that’s scheduled to open at 210 Pacific Avenue either late this year or in early 2025.

Read More:

• Warming centre fights to keep Saskatoon’s homeless safe in freezing cold
• Saskatoon city council approves $200,000 for winter warming shelters
• Extreme cold grips central Sask., but relief is on the horizon

Wegren said right now, more of the department’s efforts are focused on the area outside of the Emergency Wellness Centre in the Fairhaven neighbourhood and the downtown area, with bylaw inspectors regularly monitoring and taking down encampments. Adding another shelter to the list could strain departmental resources and raise response times.

“Every neighbourhood in the city has people who are experiencing homelessness. With regards to the EWC (and) what happens with our downtown, there’s more resources, there’s more congregation of people experiencing homelessness there,” Wegren explained.

“More efforts have to be placed there, so our resources go to that, but we are also having to hit every neighbourhood in the city.”

The fire chief said it’s a complex issue, and the fire department is trying to do the best it can while also trying to build relationships and get help for those affected by homelessness.

“Our target when we get a call on something like this, we want to respond within 24 hours. The longer it sits, the larger it becomes, the more difficult cleanup becomes,” Wegren said.

“Right now we’ve had to extend it to 72 hours just because of the need.”

Wegren said he hopes there’s money in the city’s budget for the additional bylaw inspectors so they can also focus attention on the new shelter when it opens.

He noted that the department is also falling behind on other bylaw related inspections as the situation continues to worsen. The priority right now, is attending to “life safety risk” matters, Wegren said, like encampments.

“Council has a lot of hard decisions. We understand that. We want to do the best we can,” he said.

Three days are scheduled for city council’s budget deliberations, beginning on Monday.