(rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

By Alessia Proietti

$4,000 Emergency Response Fee Charged

Downtown business owner says City ‘whitewashing’ plight of nearby businesses from social disorder

Mar 15, 2023 | 3:01 PM

A local downtown business owner says the City is “whitewashing” problems in the area after she was charged over $4,000 in emergency response fees for a fire in her building that appeared “intentionally set”, according to firefighters.

“We’ve been in the downtown for 20 years plus, with that large location on Gaetz, and never did we experience the situation that we’re encountering today. We’d have the odd situation but until 2018, when the injection site and then the shelter were placed there, it just exploded and became the epicenter of social disorder for Red Deer,” said Tracy Chabot, owner of three out of the nine commercial condominium units at 5108 52 St.

Deputy Chief Chris Kearns of the Red Deer Emergency Services (RDES) confirmed that six fire trucks, a platoon chief and a fire investigator responded to a fire that came in at 9:47 p.m. on November 30, 2022. He says the fire started on the exterior of the building caused by lit debris and burned through the wall, catching the interior and part of the roof on fire. He says the fire appeared to be intentionally set.

READ: Cause of Railyards fire suspicious, but not for sure malicious

Kearns confirmed that crews were on scene for over two and a half hours.

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Due to a city bylaw change in 2016, fees could be charged to building owners where rescue response services last for over one hour in motor vehicle, structure or Hazardous Materials incidents. Prior to the bylaw change, there were no response fees relating to fire calls within city limits. In a fire requiring over one hour in response time, a total of $615 is charged for the first hour and then $615 for each apparatus on scene per hour following, in increments of 30 minutes.

During the city council meeting on April 11, 2016, administration explained that after one hour, emergency response fees can be claimed and covered by almost all insurance.

In a previous rdnewsNOW article, RDES Fire Safety Codes Officer Andrew Towers said in December 2022 that it was unclear whether the person who started the fire “was simply trying to keep warm” and added that businesses should try to keep building exteriors well-lit to deter such activity.

Chabot is opposing payment of the bill, stating it is not fair for victimized businesses to put the claim through insurance as she believes the fire was set by a person experiencing homelessness due to her proximity to the temporary shelter and says she would be penalized through increased premiums. She says she currently pays $12,000 in premiums and would need to pay a $1,000 deductible for every incident claimed, alongside one third of her condominiums association deductible, currently at $2,500.

Inside of one of Tracy Chabot’s condominium units needing reconstruction inside. (Supplied)

Red Deer RCMP confirmed the fire was deemed suspicious and that surveillance captured two individuals near the property. However, they say investigators were unable to determine the individual responsible for the fire, and the file was closed without charges being laid.

Chabot says six of her tenants have been displaced, resorting to working from home, meeting clients in restaurants, or finding alternative work spaces. She says the interior has been gutted, ceilings and walls have been removed, there is a lingering smell of smoke and estimated $400,000 in damages. Although she says her rent is cheap, two of her 20-year tenants have given notices.

In an email correspondence with Chabot, City Manager Tara Lodewyk said that the City responded to 97 structure fires in 2022 where 31 were invoiced for using over an hour of emergency services and no pardons were given or requested. Totalling $445,263 in invoices that year, she added that taxes would need to increase by 0.5 per cent to cover these costs if not charged to property owners.

Kearns says tax dollars for emergency services in Red Deer contribute to five fully equipped and staffed emergency services stations, 24/7 service from 166 Firefighter/Paramedics, an Emergency Services Training Facility, Fire Safety Codes Officers, administration, technology and staffing for the 9-1-1 and Fire Dispatch Emergency Communications Centre, and specialized equipment and resources such as Water/Ice Rescue, HazMat response, and more.

OTHER INCIDENTS

Chabot adds that her business has had similar repeated offences in the three months following.

“People have said to us, ‘well maybe they’re just trying to keep warm’ and that also infuriates me because they got a shelter steps away,” she said. “We’re constantly getting hit.”

“Are they breaking windows and damaging fences to keep warm?”

Chabot explained that just a few weeks after the fire, a tenant went to the building to retrieve their remaining belongings when they saw an “addicted man” causing a fire in their restoration company’s dumpster. Kearns confirms a fire, appearing to be intentionally set, was caused outside the building on January 15, 2023 after 6 p.m.

Finally, on February 15, Chabot shared that as the building has not yet been fully fixed from the fire, someone entered the unit boarded up by plywood, punched a hole through the wall leading to the next unit, and caused further burn marks to the interior carpet. RCMP confirmed a break and enter was reported.

“The Youth & Community Action Team are working to meet with some of the businesses in that area where incidents are regularly occurring to discuss what measure can be taken by both the business owner and the RCMP to reduce the number of issues,” said RCMP officials in a statement.

Damage inside one of Tracy Chabot’s downtown condominium units following fire. (Supplied)

“That’s what people don’t understand about businesses being frustrated and they call us ‘heartless, you don’t care about the homeless’. We have done lots for the homeless over the years and we pay taxes to help support them, all that stuff. We’re sympathetic to people who are struggling but you can only get kicked so many times by the very people that you’re supporting before you start to get upset,” she said.

RIPPLE EFFECTS OF HOMELESSNESS

Chabot expressed that she does not intend to single out the Safe Harbour organization, running the temporary shelter, as she says they are simply doing their jobs as best as they can.

However, she says the City and province have pushed downtown businesses to their breaking point, some choosing to leave, with the location of the shelter and Overdose Prevention Site.

She claims the City is not portraying the full truth about the difficulties faced in the downtown that she and other businesses have expressed on various occasions.

She used an example of the City’s Permanent Shelter Project April 2022 report where the front page picture shows a mother and child. Chabot claims she has rarely ever seen couples and families enter the shelter.

In the City’s 2022 Point in Time Homeless Count report, stating the numbers of unsheltered individuals more than doubled in four years, demographics also showed that 133 participants were identified as single, 15 were with a partner and eight had dependents/children.

In her letter, Chabot claims that crime rates have showed lower numbers from October to December because they are colder months. She says individuals have smashed windows, urinated on building walls, defecated on properties, consumed drugs in various areas, and littered.

READ: Red Deer sees decrease in almost all categories of crime in third quarter

“They have to be stopped from just owning the area. They’ve given the keys to the area to these people,” she said. “They talk all about the vulnerable people but nothing about how they should be upping the care of us [businesses].”

Chabot says she understands that the City wants to bring traffic to the downtown, stating she has the same goal, having previously been on revitalization committees, and acknowledges that not all parts of the area have been hit as hard as Railyards. However, she believes cheap rent in the area will not be enough to support new businesses.

Tracy Chabot’s condominium units, mostly being renovated inside due to damages. (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

As a result, she claims that statements made by the City in February 2023 showing that mitigation strategies have been effective in the neighbourhood are not true. She claims complaints have lowered due to engagement fatigue and only the garbage pickup and Graffiti and Vandalism Grant have improved.

READ: Red Deer says temporary shelter mitigation strategies showing effectiveness in Railyards

Kristin Walsh, Manager of Safe and Healthy Communities for the City, acknowledged engagement fatigue in her report to council on mitigation strategy effectiveness on February 6.

“These strategies are never going to stop things from happening. That is not a reasonable thing to expect,” she said. “Mitigation, by definition, is a way of lessening the pain of something that’s happening. From that perspective of understanding what a mitigation is, these strategies are showing effectiveness.”

She said the City’s Downtown Business Association (DBA) liaison has reached out for feedback from businesses on the strategies which has returned positive.

Previously, businesses could apply for the Vandalism grant to cover 50 per cent of their costs to a max of $500, two times per year. Today, the grant has increased to 50 per cent of costs up to $2,000, to be applied a maximum of five times per year. Walsh says the applications can cover insurance deductibles and are retroactive for incidents dating back to January 2021. They have already received 11 applications, she confirmed.

Apart from mitigation strategies, Walsh adds the RCMP has a downtown patrol unit and the DBA has a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED ) grant to help businesses improve their building and landscape to deter crime.

“One other way that we can help to prevent crime is to have an active and lively downtown,” she said, referring to the City’s Downtown Activation Playbook, “so that we have people enjoying the spaces and filling up our spaces. When you have those kinds of activities happening, it is a natural deterrent to crime because there are more eyes around and a natural surveillance happens.”

Chabot worries about the postponements in the permanent shelter project. She believes the alley behind her property should be fenced off and that the city should provide increased security for businesses as those from the shelter cannot patrol past the shelter’s boundaries.

READ: Neighbouring downtown businesses call for more action following vandalism spree