Keremeos, B.C. residents raise concerns over abandoned bus | 24CA News
A bus previously occupied by squatters is sparking some concern amongst Keremeos, B.C., residents.
The former squatters have been shot by RCMP nearly a yr in the past. A person died, a girl was severely injured, and the bus was left deserted.
“We look at something that could have been taken care of months and months ago because there was actually worth to the items,” mentioned Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) Area G Director Tim Roberts.
“Right now, we’re left with a mess of vehicles and burned-out rubbish all throughout and stuff that has washed away in the river, that has no worth and it’s still here. This kind of highlights an overarching concern that we have in regards to endangerment.”
According to space residents, the bus had been a problem for 2 years previous to the police incident.
The girl has reportedly not returned to the positioning and it’s unknown if she is alive or stays in custody. RCMP declined to remark as the problem continues to be below investigation.
“Whoever’s got the authority or the ability to deal with this, deal with it and get this dealt with and get this bus out of here so we can all rest a little easier,” mentioned Keremeos resident Lorne Briere.
“We used to say it’s [obvious] that somebody has dropped the ball here but not only the fact that they dropped the ball from the onset of this, they’re still not responding. Do we have to wait another year or two, maybe three?”
Roberts says he has been involved with the provincial authorities and RCMP.
Adding that there are a variety of points with the campsite, together with environmental considerations, different squatters, and vigilantes.
“Once they left, we then ended up with problem bears breaking into the bus and we called the Natural Resource Department around our concerns about when it was going to be cleaned up. What things that we could do,” mentioned Roberts.
“Our next concern was the winter — we’re starting to talk between the local First Nations, the residents that surround here. The bus was moved in at high water level and as we know with the change in temperature and the increase of high amounts of water coming down and freshet, we had a great concern that the bus would end up and all the items around it, would be flushed down into the river.”
Recently the bus was lit on fireplace, which Roberts says places close by residents in danger.
“It was brought to my attention by the RCMP that someone had tried to burn the bus down and by doing so as we’re coming into the warmer and drier season, this puts residents into danger at the neighbouring mobile home park because of the forest area around the bus,” mentioned Roberts.
“We don’t have fire protection over here,” mentioned Briere. “We have our own fire protection within our community, but that’s a real environmental hazard not only environmental, that’s a danger to the 133 residents that live here.”
The land, which is positioned alongside Highway 3, is owned by the Crown and crosses over a number of ministries, that means enforcement turns into much less frequent.
Roberts went on to say that communication between the ministries is missing and it’s unclear who’s accountable for cleansing up the positioning.
“We’re hoping that there seems to be a lot a stronger push towards having a solution based and a ministry similar to the Emergency Management Climate Readiness ministry as being an umbrella,” mentioned Roberts.
“That way whenever we end up with these situations that could lead to either harm, loss of property or death, that we could end up having a way to mitigate and have all the ministries work together and break down the barriers and come up with solutions.”
Keremeos resident Briere, who lives within the adjoining cell house park, says he’s voiced his considerations to various ministries and RCMP for the reason that incident.
“So far, nothing’s happened. I don’t know how long or what it takes; I have contacted deputy ministers in Victoria, left [messages]. They’ve not contacted me back,” mentioned Briere.
“Nobody has even given us the courtesy as residents and taxpayers in this province, courtesy of a call back, explanation, anything to do with this situation.”
Meanwhile there isn’t any phrase as to when the bus could possibly be faraway from the realm.
Global News did attain out to the Ministry of Forests for extra details about who’s accountable for monitoring the realm, however we didn’t obtain a response.
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