Homeless housing strategy could help reduce transient-caused fires in Kelowna

CENTRAL OKANAGAN – Fires caused by homeless people have been an annual occurrence in Kelowna for years, but there’s hope that could change with the advent of the Journey Home housing strategy.

“All along the rail trail corridor at these fires we find tents with cooking pots and sleeping bags,” Kelowna Fire Department deputy chief Larry Hollier said. “Maybe if they have somewhere to live, they won’t be cooking outside or trying to stay warm.”

In addition to a shed fire in Rutland this morning, July 25, transients have been identified as the most likely cause of fires near Omineca Road on Dilworth Mountain, Trench Road on Knox Mountain as well as the fire that destroyed the Fleming House, a heritage building and one of the oldest buildings in the Central Okanagan earlier this month.

Hollier doubts most of the fires were intentionally set — he calls them “human failure” not arson — where the person who caused the fire either ran away when a cooking fire got out of control or didn’t even know it had started because they had left a warming campfire behind.

“Most likely these were accidental. I don’t want to jump on the arson train all the time unless we physically know how it started or we get them on camera,” Hollier added.

Even wildfires where it was less likely to be transient-caused, such as the fire on Knox Mountain last Friday afternoon, July 20, Hollier said fire investigators don’t consider intent, leaving that for the RCMP to determine.

“They could be intentionally set but they could not be too,” he said. “We work side by side with RCMP but once our part of it is done, we turn it over to them."

In June, Kelowna city council adopted the $47-million Journey Home housing strategy which aims to reduce homelessness in Kelowna to "functional zero" within five years.

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