N.B. community devastated by the deaths of two unhoused people in tent fire

SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Community members in Saint John, N.B., say they are devastated after two people died in a tent fire at a homeless encampment on Monday — the second and third unhoused people to be killed by fire this year in the same area.

Johanne McCullough, director of Street Team Saint John, said Tuesday that members of her organization and those living in tents are heartbroken and shaken by the recent deaths of two “lovely” people.

“These people had dreams and hopes and aspirations, and they were working on bettering themselves and this cut all that short,” said McCullough, whose group provides food and other basic necessities to unhoused people in the city.

“They had plans, and I mean that literally,” she said. “They were planning on moving out of town tomorrow. I have a pile of supplies at my house for them because they were going to be travelling together to a new city tomorrow.”

McCullough said the two people killed in the fire were well-known in the community of unhoused people and housing advocates, adding that their deaths have had a far-reaching impact in the Saint John area and beyond. They both leave behind parents and family members who love them, she added.

Saint John Police Force Staff Sgt. Matthew Weir said in an interview Tuesday the cause of the fire is under investigation and the names of the deceased will not be released until police have notified their families.

The two people were found dead in a tent on Paradise Row. On Jan. 6 a 44-year-old man died after suffering serious burns in a tent fire in the same area by the on-ramp of a highway.

Some unhoused people, McCullough said, rely on candles, propane cylinders and butane stoves to stay warm inside tents on cold nights.

“There is no safe heat source from a flame in a tent because everything around you is highly flammable,” she said. “But the other option is to be cold and freeze.”

Tent fires have been reported in cities across Canada this winter, and have resulted in deaths in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and New Brunswick. Advocates say tent fires will only increase as the number of people experiencing homelessness rises.

A study of 11 Canadian communities conducted by the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness found that chronic homelessness had risen 40 per cent between February 2020 and October 2023. The group estimates there are between 260,000 and 300,000 unhoused people across the country.

McCullough said the deaths serve as a reminder that much more needs to be done to help unhoused people get into adequate, safe indoor housing options.

“We can keep getting them blankets, sleeping bags, fire-suppression supplies and CO2 monitors, we can try to keep them safe and dry and warm. But at the end of the day, they need a solid structure above their heads,” she said. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2024.

— By Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax.

The Canadian Press