Three people were found dead following a fire at a storage shed outside a northwest Calgary home improvement store, according to fire officials.
Calgary emergency crews responded to the call just before 4 a.m. Monday to the Lowe’s home improvement store in the Crowfoot Crossing shopping centre at Crowfoot Way NW.
“When fire crews arrived and extinguished the fire, tragically, they found three bodies inside,” said Calgary Fire Department Public Information Officer, Carol Henke.
At this time, it’s believed that the three victims were using the shed as shelter, Henke said.
Jim Griffis is in the area regularly to drop off material at the blue bins in the lot. He said he’s seen others in the area in makeshift shelters.
“It’s really sad. But the problem is the housing is so high, the rent and stuff like that. It’s hard for people,” he said.
“My daughter just lives in Ranchlands and she’s a single mother of three and she’s paying $2,400. I can only imagine, she struggles, how other people do it with no money at all.”
Griffis said he wasn’t exactly sure how the community would respond. He expected that there would be more outreach activity in the area to find any unhoused people and get them into other shelters.
“Especially in the winter months, because it’s too cold to be out at night. You’re only going to want to have heat and then next thing you know, you fall asleep and this can happen,” he said.
It’s been an ongoing area of concern: Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness
Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness offered her condolences to the families that would be impacted by Monday’s tragedy. She said it underscores the need for action to tackle homelessness in areas outside the downtown, especially those communities along the city’s LRT line.
“We haven’t been serviced by the funding that’s been going on and I know that our unhoused population is finding it’s safer to be further and further out from the downtown core,” she said.
Wyness said the Crowfoot Crossing location has been an area of ongoing concern. She said that Lowe’s (now Rona) had been in contact with police and the city regularly to help with some of the challenges. There was even a roundtable meeting Nov. 6 to discuss how best to handle safety issues in the area. They were told to advise people to call 311 for assistance in the area.
According to Calgary 311 data, there have been 81 requests to 311 for encampments in this area. That’s compared with a range of two to 25 calls in areas surrounding Crowfoot Crossing.
“This is not the first fire we’ve had there from individuals trying to stay warm,” Coun. Wyness said.
“For me it’s really frustrating because there’s been so many warning signs. Then when we see those warning signs, it’s like well, we can’t, this is what our policy is. This is the box that we are allowed to operate in.”
“It’s just disappointing that it’s come to a death for people to realize that the homeless are not just in the downtown.”
Wyness said they need to listen further to those in Calgary’s unhoused population, particularly around the support they need and why they don’t feel safe using the current resources available. Those resources are focused in the downtown, she said.
“It’s a really complicated problem but we have to start teasing it out piece by piece,” Coun. Wyness said.
“Every year we’re writing bigger and bigger cheques and we’re not seeing a change in it. So that means we have to start thinking differently.”
LWC reached out to Rona with questions on their procedures around checking the property, and if they were aware of the ongoing situation with unhoused Calgarians. They didn’t respond directly to the questions, but offered a brief statement.
“We are very saddened by this morning’s incident and are working closely with the police,” they wrote in an emailed statement.
The Calgary police have now confirmed after viewing CCTV footage of the area that the fire is not suspicious. Investigators are still trying to identify the victims and complete next-of-kin notifications.
- With files from Aryn Toombs
