City of Winnipeg bans camping, fires under bridges over safety concerns
CBC
As winter looms and the number of unsheltered people continues to rise, Winnipeg outreach organizations say they understand and accept the city's move to prohibit camping and fires around its bridges.
"As an outreach organization we have been trying to deliver the message for a very long time now that it is not safe to be building encampments under bridges," said Morberg House executive director Marion Willis.
"We have been in situations where we have seen fire paramedics actually trying to drag somebody out of a fire by their ankles — it's not safe.
The number of fires below or near the bridges grew from 56 in all of 2020 to 96 as of Sept. 22 this year.
Stacey Abigosis and Cody Monias recently spent time under the Route 90 bridge near Polo Park.
"It was cool on hot days and warm on cool days." says Abigosis, calling the place "a home."
But it's not a safe home, according to the head of End Homelessness Winnipeg, one of the outreach organizations the city has been working with to get the message out.