Kamloops Fire Rescue had to douse another encampment fire, this time under the 8 Street overpass on Feb. 12, 2023.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Dean Montgomery

Kamloops firefighters made quick work of another fire at an encampment Sunday night.

They were called around 8:30 p.m. yesterday, Feb. 12, where the remains of an encampment were burning just under the 8 Street overpass.

Kamloops resident Dean Montgomery praised Kamloops Fire Rescue for their quick response after his call. He filmed the firefighters from across the railroad, where they easily doused the blaze.

Montgomery didn't want to be interviewed, but he pointed to his social media post, where he explained it was his son who spotted the fire while they were driving by.

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"The fire department was quickly able to divert something that could have potentially been much worse," he wrote.

He also said there may have been propane tanks surrounding the fire, but Kamloops Fire Department couldn't confirm whether that's true.

Platoon captain Jim Gorman simply said there was no one at the scene when the crew arrived. They doused the blaze and moved on back to the station.

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It's one of the many encampment fires they've responded to this winter.

Fire chief Ken Uzeloc said his crews have been responding to encampment fires all over the city this winter. Most are in business areas and at least one person died in one of these fires in October.

"We've had a couple inside tents where they're trying to keep warm, and the tents catch on fire," he told iNFOnews.ca last week. "So it's a big safety concern."

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The department recently started tracking files related to "vulnerable populations," which will often include calls to people with mental health issues or are homeless.

"Our burning calls were up big last year and our medical calls were up, so we're trying to get some better information and data, so we can work with the groups we need to work with to then solve some of these challenges," Uzeloc said.

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