Edmonton, Canada (local news source) — Four homeless people in Edmonton — including a mother and her young child — have died in fires in the last two months, local media said.
According to an Edmonton Public Safety news release, three fires in the municipality occurred in July, which, according to Edmonton Fire Services, is “quite unusual” in that time frame. However, firefighters with the Edmonton Fire Rescue Service are dealing with more calls than usual for these types of blazes.
The number of overnight calls from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. skyrocketed by 1,100 incidents in 2014 to 2,000 incidents last year.
Edmonton Fire Rescue Service maintains emergency management teams in areas “longest known for being frequented by the homeless population,” according to the news release.
“Following the first three fires, the shelters in those areas have identified that homeless people are still coming in. They are also noticing a cluster of homeless people living alone,” according to the release.
“Our department does not perform surveillance on the parks, but the situation is becoming a serious issue for us. We have put an extra man out in the parks.”