Hastings Street campers seek judicial review to strike down fire order calling for shelter removals

Residents and supporters of people living in the sidewalk tent encampment on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside are seeking a judicial review to strike down the July 25th fire order calling for the removal of all tents and structures.

A statement from the Pivot Legal Society claims the order issued by Vancouver Fire Rescue Service Chief Karen Fry is "...unreasonable because it was issued without procedural fairness for people sheltering along Hastings [Street]."

"If I'm forced to move, I have nowhere else to go, and I will be more vulnerable to arson because I will be alone," said Stephanie Vandenberg, one of two named plaintiffs. "I would be far more concerned about the risk of fire living in a [single room occupancy] SRO than on Hastings."

The fire order cited numerous urgent safety concerns and increased fire risk associated with shelters on the sidewalks. In an interview, Fry told CBC the encampment had to go because it was becoming more crowded and more dangerous. 

Under a judicial review, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has the power to set aside a decision of a government body. 

Pivot lawyer Anna Cooper said fire orders are being used increasingly as a weapon against the unhoused.

"What we have seen, especially in the last half decade, is an ever-rising use of fire departments and fire safety to evict tent cities and people sheltering outside and to evict them without contemplating the larger context of mass homelessness that is existing across this country," said Cooper.

The release defines the "Hastings Street Tent City" as a community of people sheltering between the zero block of West Hastings and 300 block of East Hastings and arterial streets. 

An organizer with Our Streets, a Downtown Eastside block stewardship initiative, said the city needs to face up to the fact that existing SRO stock is inadequate and dangerous.

"So far, this year alone, catastrophic fires have made six separate buildings in the DTES uninhabitable, displacing hundreds of people. Meanwhile, residents of the Hastings encampment are constantly watching out for each other, preventing fires in each other's tents and putting them out," said. Hamish Ballantyne.

To date, enforcement of the fire order hasn't happened on a large scale. But Cooper said there's been an ongoing "softer push" by officials to get people to leave. 

"We hear a lot of stories from folks about a kind of ongoing harassment and coercion, telling people if they don't leave, they're going to have their possessions taken. So that pressure hasn't stopped," she said. 

In August, violence erupted, and a number of people were arrested in the tent city neighbourhood as city staff began the process of enforcing the fire order and removing structures.

In June, the City of Vancouver apologized and ended the practice of daily street sweeps in the area by city workers accompanied by police. The crews were accused of being overzealous in their work to clean up garbage and remove abandoned structures, sometimes throwing away personal items.

The City of Vancouver and VFRS have 21 days to respond to the petition. CBC reached out to VFRS for comment but has not heard back.