Cleanup began today at a Barrie homeless encampment on the edge of Highway 400 at Bayfield Street with provincial police and Ministry of Transportation personnel on-site.
A contracting crew began the daunting task which involved piles of trash, as well as charred belongings and camping gear, after a recent fire rendered the site uninhabitable to the city’s unhoused community. The March 13 blaze burned a large portion of the camp.
Ontario Provincial Police officers inspected the site on foot at around 8:45 a.m. on April 23, prior to the ministry's cleanup beginning.
During a walk-through of the site, strewn among the heaps of food waste, plastics and abandoned clothing were discarded syringes and a used naloxone kit.
Naloxone is a fast-acting drug used to temporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.
A torn and dirty tent could also be seen under the trees along with the remnants of a charred barbecue with a fire extinguisher sitting on it.
The cleanup crew worked on foot with rakes and saws in hand, filling several garbage bags with trash.
A small excavator worked on the larger piles, dumping the bucket loads onto a small truck.
None of the previous inhabitants could be seen in the area, and police remained on hand to keep watch over the operation.
