
Firefighters on scene at Kitchener encampment
CTV
Emergency responders are on scene at the corner of Victoria and Weber streets where flames appear torn through part of an encampment.
Emergency responders are on scene at the corner of Victoria and Weber streets where flames appear torn through part of an encampment.
As of 9:45 a.m. Thursday, fire tape surrounds a section of the smaller encampment at the corner, diagonally across from the larger tent community beside the Kitchener GO Station.
It’s at least the third encampment fire in Waterloo Region in six days.
On Saturday, flames destroyed two tents at the main Victoria and Weber encampment. No one was hurt. Officials said a cooking mishap started the fire.
As temperatures drop, people are turning to improvised solutions, including fires, to stay warm.
"People are buying wood stoves and everything, we’re freezing out here," one encampment resident told CTV News on Saturday. "I got like ten blankets in my tent on me and my husband."
On Wednesday, emergency crews were called to a fire at an encampment beside Highway 401 in Cambridge. Officials haven’t said what started the flames in that case or if anyone was hurt.
