A chain link fence is the only barrier between a Penticton, B.C., heavy duty truck dealership and the Fairview homeless encampment.
“Our property boundary is about 30 metres away from the main encampment,” said Luke Bradley, truck sales consultant at Inland Truck and Equipment. “”It’s too close for comfort.”
Despite signage prohibiting fire activity in the area, three blazes have erupted at the encampment in just the past two weeks.
Two broke out within hours of each other on Jan. 19 and destroyed two tent structures.
The third fire happened this past Tuesday.
While fire officials said no one was hurt in any of the blazes, the frequent fire activity has many surrounding business operators concerned.
“To have a fire touch one of our trucks would be catastrophic because they’re full of fuel, of course, diesel oil, all kinds of other flammable liquids,” Bradley told Global News.
In addition to the safety risk, Bradley said for the truck dealership, it also comes with big financial implications.
“Some of these things are upwards $250,000 to 500,000,” Bradley said describing the value of the trucks and equipment.
His fears are legitimate.
In February 2025, a fire at the encampment spread onto the nearby Leisureland RV Centre.
Two trailers were destroyed, a third was damaged.
The owners of Leisureland were so concerned about the potential for fire that just two weeks prior to the destructive flames, they sent an email to the Ministry of Transportation, which owns the land, calling for urgent action.
In the email on Jan. 20, 2025 , Leisureland RV owner Brian Marsden told the ministry, “There is a heating source inside one of the structures that could possibly cause the surrounding dry grasses to catch on fire.”
Several days later, Marsden received a response from the ministry, which said in part, “At this point, there is currently no immediate safety risk for the camp occupants, traveling, public or infrastructure.”
But it was only 16 days after Marsden sent the email that his fear was realized with the destructive blaze.
It’s the type of outcome nearby business operators don’t want repeated.
But jurisdictional issues seem to be getting in the way of reducing the existing fire risk, with city officials saying they are limited in what they can do.
“Our local fire and safety bylaws don’t happen there and so what we’re doing is just an education piece, not an enforcement piece,” Penticton fire chief Mike Larsson told Global News last week.
Larsson added that fire officials conduct regular walks through the site educating the encampment residents of the safety risks, but beyond that, Larsson emphasized it’s not the municipality’s jurisdiction.
Global News reached out to the ministry to ask what is being done to reduce the risk on its land. A ministry spokesperson stated, “The Province supports any measures taken by the Penticton Fire Department to reduce the risk of fire on site.”
The local MLA is blasting the province, saying it’s the ministry’s responsibility to take risk-mitigating action.
In an email, Amelia Boultbee, independent MLA for Penticton-Summerland, stated, “The province continues to derelict its duties to the public by allowing the Fairview encampment to remain unaddressed. It is only a matter of time before someone dies.”
Bradley echoed the concerns, adding that when human lives are at risk, those jurisdictional boundaries should disappear.
“When you start finger-pointing…nothing gets done and that’s very frustrating for everybody,” Bradley said.
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