'They're killing themselves': Acrid smoke from copper-wire fires plagues South Point Douglas
Residents complain of frequent fires set to separate plastic from metal; police blame methamphetamine trade
Noxious black smoke and the acrid smell of burning plastic have become regular irritants in South Point Douglas, thanks to illegal fires set to remove insulation from salvaged or stolen copper wire.
Residents of the inner-city Winnipeg neighbourhood, which sits along the Red River to the immediate northeast of downtown, say they're growing weary of wire fires set several times a week in Fort Douglas Park, a wooded area along the riverbank.
City hall concedes it has no immediate means of doing anything about the fires, which police believe are a consequence of the methamphetamine trade.
"The smoke wafts into the neighbourhood, and if you're sitting in your backyard or doing yard work, the smell is awful, never mind what's happening to the guys who are doing the actual burning. They're killing themselves," said South Point Douglas resident Jeff Monk, pointing out three separate wire-processing sites within 100 metres of riverbank.
He said he noticed a spike in the number of illegal wire fires this summer. They leave behind patches of scorched earth and molten plastic below the spring high-water line, allowing the chemical byproducts of the fires to end up in the Red River the next time it floods.
Monk said while firefighters respond quickly to his 911 calls, the emergency response does not dissuade copper scavengers from setting more fires.
"The fire department comes, they put out the fire and the walk away. The police don't come because it's a fire, and the guys start chopping wood again and getting ready for the next fire, so it's kind of useless," Monk said.
"I don't mind phoning [911], but I'm not going to police it. I don't have the energy because I'm fighting cancer myself."
Monk is undergoing his third round of chemotherapy in an effort to cure his lymphoma. He said while he doesn't believe he's ingested much of the smoke from the burning plastic, he doesn't appreciate the airborne carcinogens.
"It's another thing in my head, kind of going, 'What's this going to do to me when I'm trying to heal?'" he said.
Less than 10 minutes after Monk showed CBC News where the fires are set, a man rode into Fort Douglas Park on a bike, towing a trailer filled with wire.
CBC News observed as the man used an accelerant and the remains of wooden pallets to start a fire, sending orange flames shooting up between the riverside trees. When the flames died down to less than a metre in height, he placed a bundle of wires within his fire and tended to the small blaze until he noticed he was being filmed.
He declined an interview request and asked to be left alone.
Simple economics
Jordan Van Sewell, a Winnipeg visual artist who lives in South Point Douglas, said he fears homelessness and illicit substance use are driving downtrodden Winnipeggers to burn wire.
"I like the enterprising spirit. That's what built this town in the first place," he said.
"But the ends and means that people go through … when you think of the toxicity of what those guys are smelling and you see the big black cloud, you know it's not good."
The economics behind illegal wire fires are simple. In Winnipeg, scrap dealers say they buy insulated copper wire for as little as $1.25 per pound. Clean copper wire, however, commands more than double the price: $2.65 a pound.
Scrap recycling companies say they buy most of their wire from reputable, industrial sources. The Winnipeg Police Service says some of the scrap is also salvaged or stolen — and then sold to recycling companies to generate revenue to purchase methamphetamine.
"A lot of that material comes from thefts," said Const. Jay Murray, a spokesperson for the police service. "When wire is stolen, it's covered with plastic and they want to get that plastic off."
Murray said the police support a city proposal to require metal buyers to follow procedures similar to those followed by gold buyers and pawn shops. Those shops are required to obtain identification from anyone who wants to sell their wares and keep photocopies of their IDs on file.
This proposal grew out of the city-provincial task force on methamphetamine and other illicit drugs. A report recommending additional regulation of the scrap-metal industry is due before city councillors early in 2020, said Joelle Schmidt, a spokesperson for the City of Winnipeg.
Western Scrap Metals, which operates in North Point Douglas, said it already asks its suppliers to provide identification.
The redevelopment of both Point Douglas neighbourhoods, which are home to a mix of residential housing and industrial businesses, could further ease tensions, said Vivian Santos, the city councillor for Point Douglas.
That prospect is a decade away, at best. In the short term, Santos advises South Point Douglas residents to continue calling 911 when they see or smell wire fires.
"It's a very, very tough question," she said. "I know people want immediate action, but I don't have a solution."
Jeff Monk said he would appreciate a more preventive approach, given the frequency of the fires. He said he's seen people carry entire coils of wire through his neighbourhood — and once saw a taxi pull up near his home and drop off a passenger who unloaded a full trunk-load of wire.
"All that energy could be used for other things, instead of killing themselves and screwing with the environment down here on the riverbank," Monk said.
"It's sad. It's sad for the whole situation: the riverbank, the guys breathing it [and] for us to have to see it and smell it. And nothing's really being done to manage it or police it.
"They're not here now, but they'll be back."
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