After a fire ravaged an abandoned building last week, questions have been raised surrounding the number of vacant houses in Regina and what the city is doing to combat it.
With the current housing crisis in Regina, many vacant homes are being broken into and being used as shelters by people who can’t afford housing.
Aurora Marinari, development coordinator with Carmichael Outreach in Regina said the fires are frequent among vacant houses due to the need for warmth.
“There are no utilities so in order to prevent freezing to death, they need to start a fire of some kind and so what happens with that is you get fires in buildings and homes,” she said.
Regina fire marshal Randy Ryba said there has been an increase in unintentional fires in abandoned homes.
“We have seen a number of these fire damaged buildings that have been boarded up and then burn again, sometimes three times,” said Ryba. “That poses a risk not only to the public, but also a risk to our firefighters responding to fires that shouldn’t happen in the first place.”
Ryba emphasized the safety concerns surrounding fires within older homes and said it can be so dangerous that investigators cannot enter a home for days after the initial call.
“It poses a public health risk within the structure alone and there could be asbestos airborne items that burned,” said Ryba. “Melting a lot of plastics and typical old wood furniture back in the day gives up a lot of toxins.”
The City of Regina said the steps necessary to demolish a home following a fire depend on the extent of the damage, public safety, insurance, and the owner.
If demolition is ordered, the appeal is denied, and the building is not demolished by the owner, the city can then contract the work out and charge it to the owner’s property tax.
Marinari added she would like the city to have a more dynamic approach to the vacant houses.
“There needs to be more access to affordable housing,” said Marinari. “So if we could take these boarded up homes that are in poor condition, we could do something with them so that we could provide housing for clients.”
Ryba added there are ways to keep properties in safe order such as keeping your garbage bins on your property or adding lights to the backyard. I have also suggested reporting any suspicious activity to police.