The burned down bunkhouse in Moccasin Flats
By Tommy Osborne
Moccasin Flats fire

Community activist calls for change amid latest Moccasin Flats fire

May 31, 2024 | 5:42 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Not even a week removed from the Community Safety Town hall hosted by the City of Prince George, another fire has caused serious structural damage at Moccasin Flats. Two tiny homes and the bunkhouse were burned down, but nobody was injured.

“We call it a bunkhouse that we built originally to house people and for overnight shelter, for overnight sleeping. It never ended up being that, but what it did end up being is almost like a community centre. And we actually had lots of good memories in here, having meals together. And it did end up being a dwelling for some of the folks,” said Brad Gustafson, a co-leader of the tiny home project.

Gustafson says this latest fire in Moccasin Flats showcases the need for action, as it’s a growing problem and something needs to change.

“We do have a problem, and if we, as members of this beautiful community, want to make a change, why don’t we: number one vote? Because precious few of us are voting. And number two: back it up. Prove that you actually have a caring attitude of care and appreciation for this wonderful city,” Gustafson said.

“I always say there’s two pillars of society. There’s the rules and regulations, and then there’s all the love, the true justice, and the mercy and the compassion, the things that make us human. And we need to come in the middle. If we focus too much on the rules and the bylaws, well, then we’re going to lose out on all this (love, justice, etc.) stuff. And so I’m calling for the community to engage. I’m calling for wealthy businessman to prove your opinion about what’s going on. I’m calling for the armchair bureaucrats, the Facebook politicians, prove it. If you have an opinion do something about it,” he continued.

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City Councillor Ron Polillo says the City and fire crews are doing whatever it can to address the issue, and he hopes some of the talking points from the town hall earlier this week can help address the problem.

“It’s a very challenging situation, at our town hall that we had a couple nights ago you heard from the fire chief that they are trying to address those fires the best that they can. We’re going to continue with that strategy. What we hope to do in the next months was having the short term, residential encampment there constructed and hopefully mitigating the Lower Patricia encampment in the future. We really hope that the situation will improve there greatly in the next months to come,” Polillo said.

As for Gustafson, he is also hoping to create and calling for a community group/committee, which he describes as “a grassroots thing that’s not tied to the government.” He says he’s calling for “a committee of concerned citizens who do not have government purse strings, who do not have ties to the government, who are just in this because they want to help their city.” He hopes this committee could work parallel to the government to create positive and lasting change.

If you would like to contact Gustafson about this committee he asked that his contact information be made available, which is:

Email: bradleygustafson@gmail.com

Phone: 250-981-9935

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by Tommy Osborne

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