Pair treated for burns after fire at St. Patrick Bridge homeless encampment

Firefighters responded to a fire at a homeless encampment under the St. Patrick Bridge in Vanier over the weekend (Jim O'Grady/CTV News Ottawa)

A man and a woman were taken to hospital with burns after a fire at a homeless encampment under the St. Patrick Bridge in Vanier over the weekend.

Ottawa Fire spokesperson Nick Defazio told CTV News Ottawa that they received multiple 9-1-1 calls on Saturday at around 2:25 p.m., with reports of heavy smoke and flames coming from underneath the bridge.

Firefighters could see black smoke and flames amid high winds on Saturday. Fire crews found the pair sheltering in a hutch with tarps along with a mattress, several 20-pound propane tanks and bicycles along with heating and cooking equipment.

The camp became fully engulfed in smoke and flames with a propane tank venting vapor. Firefighters had to call a second pump to bring down the flames.

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One man exited the site relatively quickly and was treated with minor burns on his lower back.

The woman took longer to exit the site and suffered second-degree burns to her hands, back, legs and face. No other victims or tents were found in the area. Both individuals were taken to hospital and treated for their injuries.

The fire was put under control by 2:45 p.m.

An uptick in tent fires and deaths from makeshift heating has been a cause for concern during the winter months. This winter, two people were found dead in tents in a homeless encampment in Gatineau, along with one in Kingston and one in Cornwall.

Saturday's temperatures dipped to a frosty -11 C with wind gusts reaching 41 km/h.

Ottawa firefighters also put out two tents that were on fire in a grassy area of the city's east-end near the Via Rail tracks earlier last week. There were about five tents in the area.

The St. Patrick Bridge in Vanier (Jim O'Grady/CTV News Ottawa)Fires at homeless encampments doubled last year, with eight fires being reported in 2022 and 19 in 2023.

Shelters across the city are already at, or over, capacity, but the pressure is expected to only increase this winter.

Ottawa is initiating some short term solutions heading into the colder months that includes using bunk beds at community centre shelters and looking into the possibility of acquiring a military-like tent to boost capacity to make sure people have a place to go.

Gatineau has also approved a plan to install heated tents in the parking lot of the Robert-Guertin arena in Hull for people experiencing homelessness during the winter months.