Vancouver approves pilot project to improve fire safety in SROs

The City of Vancouver has unanimously approved funding for a new pilot program in hopes of reducing the number of fires in single-room occupancy (SRO) buildings across the city after a steady rise in fires over the past several years.

Councillors voted on Tuesday to spend $110,000 on the project to create fire safety plans, identify fire risks and appoint tenants to lead fire safety initiatives in more than a dozen buildings across the city.

"This proposal for fire safety peers in the hotels to get involved in educating their neighbours ... and getting involved in fire safety is crucial," said Wendy Pedersen, executive director of the SRO Collaborative, a group committed to improving habitability and safety in buildings, which will run the pilot.

"There's eight fire alarms going off in the hotels every day. That's a lot. Tenants are afraid."

A report presented to council said crews responded to more than 220 fires at SROs last year, which is more than double the number seen in 2018.

Two people died in a fire at the Winters Hotel in Gastown in April, which weighed heavy on residents and advocates.

"The two deaths ... really scared tenants and the community and we all want to be involved in a proactive way," said Pedersen.

City staff noted SROs are at high risk for fires because the buildings are old, likely with overloaded electrical systems. Systems for alarms and sprinklers are also likely outdated and needing frequent repairs. Residents can also resort to unsafe tactics to stay warm in buildings with poor heating.

According to the city, roughly 7,200 residents live across 154 buildings, which are primarily in the city's Downtown Eastside and more than 400 had to leave their homes due to fires last year.

The one-year pilot project will involve 18 SRO buildings. Each building will have a lead tenant — or, as Pedersen stated, a "super keener" — partnered with firefighters to train neighbours on fire prevention, safety and response.

Other key components include surveying tenants about fire safety, creating better building maps to highlight escape routes and developing annual fire drills.

"This projects helps us get in with tenants and problem solve with tenants and landlords and our goal is to keep them in place as long as possible until these rooms can be replaced with social housing," said Pedersen, who said fires have been an issue in SROs since her grandfather lived in one in the 1930s.

Pedersen said building newer, safer housing would be the ultimate solution to make residents safer, but the pilot project is an important step in the meantime.

In approving the pilot projects, several city councillors also noted the need for a longer-term solution.

"What I want to see is more urgency and a conversation around ... while we're working on a longer-term strategy to deal with the SRO stock, what can we do now to eliminate the loss of more life in our city?" said Coun. Lisa Dominato. "It's not going to be one solution."

Pedersen said the pilot could be expanded to more SRO buildings.

"We've got the capacity at the collaborative to make this project happen," she said. "If we can show results, it would save the city a lot of money."