Vacant homes catching fire a concern for Edmonton community group

Vacant buildings going up in flames in neighbourhoods across Edmonton – it’s a scary reality for some families and community groups.

And they want the city to do something about it.

Vacant, abandoned and unsecured buildings are a fire hazard – whether it’s accidental or intentional.

According to Edmonton Fire Rescue Services (EFRS), there were 120 fires in vacant properties last year.

Two people have died and one firefighter nearly lost their life in the past year due to vacant house fires, said Edmonton’s deputy fire Chief Rob McAdam earlier this week.

Community group wants solutions 

The Alberta Avenue Community League – a volunteer, non-profit association of residents – has had enough. They are looking to the city for solutions.

“Imagine waking up in the middle of the morning, or the middle of the night, and seeing your neighbour’s house on fire,” said the group’s director, Erick Estrada. “What is going to be your reaction – your kids? Are they thinking your house is next?

“We started asking for support, and then we got a lot more police presence now, and it seems that they’re really pushing to have humane living conditions for everybody, including our most vulnerable neighbours. But that has gotten some reaction from gangs, and we have seen fires on those properties after people get evicted.”

McAdam says it’s not only on the city to address the issue. He says it’s up to owners to correctly secure their vacant properties.

“What you would see from the street is a very neatly, very securely boarded building, painted white,” said McAdam. “And one of the reasons we paint it, is you can tell from the street if it’s been tampered with.”

Fines starting at $5,000

Owners who don’t comply will face a bill starting at $5,000 for the first stage of securement.

“The city will not be paying the bill, the owners will,” said McAdam. “In fact, even the city workers’ time is going to be billed to the owners.”

The City of Edmonton has sent out 23 securement orders to private property owners, who can choose to secure the property, demolish it or reinvest in it.

VACANT HOMES: ALSO A PROBLEM IN WINNIPEG

• As more vacant homes in Winnipeg go up in flames, advocates want city to act
• Winnipeg residents raise concerns over abandoned homes
• Winnipeggers concerned over growing number of vacant homes

“Two-hundred-and-fifty properties is what we know of, so I would assume that there might be 250 more that we don’t know of,” said Justin Lallemand, the acting director with Community Standards and Neighbourhoods. “And that’s the point of this, is we want the public to report these concerns so we can get them into our inventory.”

The fire chief is advising Edmontonians to call 311 to report any unsecured vacant property they see.

The goal of the project is to secure vacant properties or make them habitable again.