A new pilot project is aimed at keeping people warm while limiting fires and avoiding injuries.
The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service distributes firebreaks to homeless camps to keep those living on the streets warm in what WFPS assistant chief Scott Wilkinson calls a “harm reduction measure.”
“We have an initial 15 barrels to launch the pilot project and we are working with our community agencies to identify camps,” he says.
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Wilkinson acknowledges that there are fewer camps this year, acknowledging the work of the city’s poverty reduction strategy. The WFPS is waiving the permit issue for camps as it says the barrels are meant for confinement and to reduce the “risk of injury”.
Wilkinson says the project is expected to last until spring “and over the summer we will evaluate feedback from our community agencies and partners,” he says.
He says they will go through the data and feedback to see if the program needs to be re-introduced in the fall.
Reference-globalnews.ca