'There's nowhere to go': Encampment resident lost everything in fire at J.C. Beemer Park

Talal Abdulwahid returned to J.C. Beemer Park Wednesday morning to find everything he owned had been destroyed.

He'd been staying in the park for roughly four months, but in a just a few minutes, his tent and all of his belongings went up in flames.

"When I come back … I find out my tent got burned to the ground," he said.

"I have nothing left but the clothes I have on. I lost everything."

Fortunately, the 48-year-old was staying with a friend the night before and was not in his tent when it caught fire.

Still, Abdulwahid said he lost photos and other sentimental items that can't be replaced.

Emergency crews were called to the park just before 6 a.m.

Police said they found several tents burning with flames shooting as high as 20 feet in the air. They worked with fire fighters to pull multiple people out of tents nearby before they caught fire, police said in a media release.

"Several explosions" caused by propane tanks and generators also rocked the park and a hydro line was damaged, said police who described the conditions there as "unsafe."

The fire is not believed to be criminal and no injuries were reported, police said.

Dozens of officers were at the park throughout the day Wednesday as bylaw officers moved to evict those who had been staying there, including Abdulwahid.

Protesters with the Hamilton Encampment Support Network (HESN) who tried to stop the evictions clashed with police and two people were arrested — a 33-year-old man charged with obstructing police and a 27-year-old woman charged with assaulting a police officer.

Vic Wojciechowska, a member of HESN, said the protesters were "violently arrested" and described the city's response to the fire as "discompassionate and dehumanizing."

They compared the actions of Hamilton police to the large-scale response and arrests during encampment standoffs in Toronto this past summer at Trinity Bellwoods Park and Lamport Stadium.