Kamloops, B.C., mayor defies fire chief's order to remove torched SUV from his dealership lot

Update, Dec. 14, 2023: On Dec. 14, the vehicle was towed while the mayor was away in Mexico.

The mayor of Kamloops, B.C., has been ordered by the city's fire chief to remove a burnt-out vehicle that's been parked at his business for more than a year — but he's refusing to do so. 

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson has refused previous requests to tow the torched wreckage from the Tru Market dealership lot he owns on West Victoria Street.

"Where am I going to put it?" he said in an interview with CBC News on Tuesday.

The back-and-forth is the latest instance of Hamer-Jackson clashing with other city officials. 

The mayor said he is already storing several other vehicles at his home, and doesn't have space for more.

The charred vehicle with no back window has what appears to be blankets inside. The mayor says he has tried covering the vehicle, a Pontiac Torrent, with a tarp, which keeps getting removed.

The Tru Market lot is next to a CP Rail track, surrounded by several other businesses and directly across the street from two social housing buildings. While most vehicles on the lot are locked up, the burnt-out SUV is out in the open on its own, because the mayor says he doesn't have space for it elsewhere.

And, he says, he shouldn't have to move it, as he is licensed to store vehicles of all types on the property.

"I could have 50 vehicles on my lot," he said.

Kamloops Fire Rescue Chief Ken Uzeloc insists it's a safety hazard. 

"We've had two fires in that vehicle ... [we're] consistently seeing people being attracted to it to try to shelter in it," he said.

"I've deemed it a fire hazard. I've asked for it to be removed. If it's not, I will take steps to remove it."

History of clashes

The rookie mayor was elected in October 2022 on a promise to help clean up the city, and he regularly cited issues with the neighbourhood where his dealership is located.

Soon afterward, he was asked to stop visiting B.C. Housing shelters unannounced, with the provincial organization saying his drop-ins were "disruptive" to front-line staff and people in the facilities.

In March, a decision to shuffle council committees and remove several councillors from their posts without consultation resulted in every other elected official at city hall delivering a joint statement condemning his actions, calling him "unpredictable" and accusing him of "misinformation."

Hamer-Jackson has also filed a defamation suit against one councillor and in September an investigation was launched after it was revealed he had recorded a phone call with a city staffer. 

But, he says, his focus remains on improving community safety.

"I just want to keep working hard on getting a safer community and, you know, getting people help on the streets and dealing with the mental health and substance abuse problems we have and things like that," he said in his Tuesday interview.

Fire chief says order to remove vehicle not political

Uzeloc insists his order to have the SUV removed is about public safety, and is not politically motivated,

He said so far this year Kamloops Fire Rescue crews were dispatched to at least 125 medical calls in the block where Hamer-Jackson's car lot is located.

Uzeloc says one of the reasons he wants the vehicle removed is because it continues to attract people who see it's already been burned, and may want to start a new fire to keep warm. 

He says he's worried about the safety of someone who might camp out in the torched SUV this winter.

The mayor argues he should be allowed to store vehicles on his property, and that removing it doesn't address ongoing issues involving street disorder in that area.

"I want it to be a safe community, have a safe place right on the main corridor that I can have a cover on [the vehicle]  and it be safe."

As of early Wednesday afternoon, the burnt-out vehicle remains on the lot, but it was no longer covered by a blue tarp.