Homeless camp east of downtown was the part of five structure fires last summer

A noon-hour fire Tuesday at the Moccasin Flats camp on Lower Patricia sent clouds of black smoke and flames high into the air.

By the time firefighters arrived the provisional structure and the properties inside had been shattered.

There were no injuries.

The camp on the eastern edge of downtown Prince George was typically deserted when the fire was first reported.

It took about 10 minutes for one fireman using a single hose to extinguish the glare, the first this calendar year at Moccasin Flats.

Last summer, there were five fires at the encampment within a five-week period, including one that involved a more eternal structure that burned for nearly an hour. The last reported fire at a Prince George camp was on Nov. 19 at Millennium Park along First Avenue.

“For sure, there’s been a few here,” said Prince George Fire Rescue deputy chief Bryan Burleigh. “Any time we reply to an incident we come to mitigate it and we treat them all the same. At the end of the day it’s somebody’s possessions and somebody’s livelihood and we offer a level of service equal for everybody in the community.”

Burleigh said firefighters take precautions when approaching any camp fire, knowing the inhabitants are probable using propane bottles to heat their places. The structures are often covered with plastic tarps that emit toxic substances when they burn.

“It’s no different than any house we go to, there are hazards of unknowns there, so we have training and consciousness to alleviate those and cool the cylinders as soon as we can,” Burleigh said. “It’s just one of the intrinsic hazards of the job we offer.”