A fire prevention officer with the Moncton Fire Department says severe winter weather brings with it additional risks to homeless people in Greater Moncton.
Steve Richardson says there are damaged or abandoned buildings across the area that are unsafe to stay in – and so firefighters work with the City to check the buildings every week to see if there’s someone living there.
Richardson says they monitor these buildings for safety reasons.
“Unfortunately this time of year, if you have nowhere to go and it’s cold, it’s dangerous, blizzard conditions people are going to try to get in to these properties,” says Richardson. “That’s why we monitor them, because if there is a fire, we go there, we wanna make sure there’s nobody in there.”
Richardson says there are a variety of reasons for why these buildings might be dangerous.
“Some of them have been damaged by fire, they’re unsafe. Some of them could just be old, there’s other situations where they are just not inhabitable,” says Richardson. “They’re boarded up, they’re secured to protect the property and to keep people out because they’re not safe.”
Richardson says ultimately they want to keep people safe.
“And when these buildings are boarded up, they’re not meant to be accessed, and for the most part they’re not,” says Richardson. “But we keep an eye on them because you just never know for sure.’
Richardson says for those who are down on their luck, or homeless, there are facilities that can take care of them and help them survive the worst winter weather without resorting to dangerous buildings.
