Port Colborne’s fire chief says the department is being swamped by calls about hoarding across the city and is calling on the various agencies tasked with serving vulnerable people in the community to help tackle the issue.
In a verbal report to council Monday night, Tom Cartwright said he was asked by the city’s fire prevention officer, Scott Lawson, to bring the issue to light. He said the department is called on a weekly basis to homes — in all areas of the city — that are cluttered with debris and other objects, creating unsafe environments.
“We are being inundated with hoarding issues in the city,” Cartwright said.
He added the department alone is not equipped to deal with hoarding, that other agencies need to step up to the plate. Otherwise, he said, the issue will simply keep arising.
“Our hands are pretty much tied unless we can convince people to work with us,” he said.
Cartwright said this is hardly a Port Colborne issue — other departments are reporting the same problem.
“It’s region wide, and I’m sure it’s province wide,” he said.
Cartwright said he and the rest of the department are sympathetic to the myriad of reasons behind hoarding and that they are reluctant to lay charges in cases where a mental health issue is involved.
He noted, though, the department is currently tied up with eight or nine court cases involving landlords in the city. These cases take up staff time and resources, he said.
Unless other agencies try to get to the root of the problem, the fire department will only be reacting to it, Cartwright said.
“We can’t keep it up,” he said. “We can’t keep up with it.”
Cartwright said he and Lawson have tried to help where they can. In some cases, he said, they have even purchased mattresses for residents who were sleeping on piles of rubbish.
When other agencies do get involved, it’s not always helpful.
In one case, Cartwright said, another agency, Niagara Public Health, was brought in, but the staff member simply handed the resident a brochure and left.
“That’s not what we need help with,” Cartwright said.
He noted that while it may seem unfair to point fingers, this is people’s safety they’re talking about.
“If we have a fire in these homes, we’re going to lose people because they’re not going to get out,” he said. “It’s at the point now where I think gentleness isn’t working.”
Regional Coun. David Barrick took issue with the Cartwright’s tone, pointing out that as fire chief, he should have brought the concern to the city chief administrative officer, who could have relayed it to the mayor, who also serves at the region and could have brought the matter up there.
Instead, Barrick said this report was the first time he was hearing of the issue.
“Communication is important,” he said. “Professionalism is important. I would expect commentary like that from councillors, not from a professional.”
Coun. Barbara Butters took umbrage with the regional councillor’s dressing down of the chief, saying he was simply calling things as he saw them.
“I don’t take to kindly to him being chastised for his delivery,” Butters said. “Don’t go kicking the chief around because it’s convenient.”
Mayor John Maloney, however, agreed that communication is important and that he, too, was only hearing about this for the first time.
“We have to know there is a problem,” he said.
Coun. Angie Desmarais said the issue needs more discussion and that it would be relayed to the city’s social determinants of health committee.
Link to original article in Niagara This Week: Port Colborne fire chief sounds alarm on hoarding