Fire breaks out at abandoned apartment building in Kamloops, B.C., days after mayor warned of risks

In the same week the mayor of Kamloops, B.C., warned about fire risks posed by derelict buildings, crews were called to an early-morning blazeat an abandoned apartment building in the city's west end.

Fire Chief Ken Uzeloc says the fire wasreported at around 5 a.m. PT and appears to have started in the basement of the boarded-up building, which has been behind security fencing for over a yearafter being deemed unsafe for tenants.

The building is located on Seymour StreetWest,less than a kilometrefrom the used car lot owned by Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson that became a source of tension earlier this week when the mayordefied orders to remove an SUVfromthe lot that Uzeloc had deemed a fire hazard.

Hamer-Jackson insisted he should not be required to move the burned-out vehicle because he was licensed to store wrecks on his lot.

But Uzeloc said it posed a danger because people were using it for shelter and at least two fires had been started in it. The SUV was towed on Thursday.

The mayor arguedthe focus should be on getting people off the street and cracking down on those who light fires.

WATCH |Tension between fire chief and mayor over burnt-out SUV:

Kamloops, B.C., mayor defies fire chief's order to remove burnt-out vehicle from his used car dealership

9 months ago

Duration 2:47

Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson is disputing an order by the city's fire chief to remove a torched vehicle from the business he owns. As Justin McElroy explains, it continues a pattern of conflicts since he's been in office.

"That vehicle is not the problem," he said in an interview Thursday. "I should be able to have many vehicles on my lot. I've had so many vehicles that have been stolen, vandalized, people breaking into vans and living in them. It's just not right."

Hamer-Jackson was elected in part by voicing frustrations many in the community feel around vandalism, petty crime and vagrancy, and says he wants to focus on tackling root causes.

He said removing vehicles from his lot was only a Band-Aid solution and with them gone, the fire problem wouldsimply move elsewhere in the city particularly to buildings.

"Do we not have a bylaw saying we shouldn't be setting fires in city limits?" he said. "That's a crime."

"I'm focused on the same thing: A safer community."

The cause of Friday morning's fire is under investigation.