‘Mini bomb’ caused by drug mishap destroys fruit stand
By Steffanie Costigan - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on July 7, 2023.
Submitted photo
Andrew Turner and Nathan Pescetti sweep up cinders next to the charred remains of the Okanagan Fresh Fruit truck following a fire over the weekend.It is no secret wildfires and arsons have been at an all-time high this year in Alberta; however, a local fruit stand did not expect their business to experience a fire firsthand.
Okanagan Fresh Fruit did not anticipate Canada Day festivities to turn into a night of flames in the parking lot near Nutters in north Lethbridge. Nathan Pescetti, an employee of Okanagan Fresh Fruit, shared when he was able to get to the scene and the damage the fire did.
“I showed up to the scene about quarter after nine, 9:30ish. The stand was just burnt straight to the ground. It was rubble. Half the truck was melted,” Pescetti said.
Pescetti was informed by an officer the fire was estimated to have happened around 8:30 p.m. on July 1, Canada Day. Pescetti said he was told by an officer the case of the fire was due to an accident when a few homeless individuals were carrying a cart full of isopropyl or methamphetamine and laptops along with tablets.
“The officer said that they think that when their isopropyl or whatever spilled over onto the tablets and the laptops, and it lit the magnesium and the batteries on fire, and just basically created a mini-bomb and blew up the stand and counted on fire, and just burned straight to the ground.”
It is estimated the amount of damage Okanagan Fresh Fruit occurred was around $11,000 to 13,000. Pescetti noted how they could not open for a day, and he spent all Sunday building up a new fruit stand. Pescetti said the individual who caused the fire has come forth admitting to the damage, and to his knowledge he has not been charged.
“The guy that supposedly did it he came back while we were cleaning it up and admitted to everything. We called the police, and he admitted everything to the police. And he was walking around with bear mace and stuff, and the police let them go… So that was pretty unfortunate.”
Okanagan Fresh Fruit has received a lot of support and condolences for their misfortune through social media. Pescetti said the fruit stand has been parking at the same location for around 40 years, and this is the first time they have experienced this.
“The most that’s really happened is obviously, knowing that somebody’s been sleeping, they’re leaving their garbage in their trash, we find that, odd needles or whatever. But nothing this crazy. This is definitely the wildest thing that’s happened here.”
Pescetti said fruit stand business manager Jared Law, also manages two other local fruit stands in the city. Pescetti voiced his concern with the news of the fire and said they are back on their feet.
“Obviously, I was pretty upset because it’s my job. First thing I thought it was, ‘Oh crap, I don’t have a job anymore.’ And it’s gone and lost all this money. But, you know, at the end of the day, we got it all fixed up, and we’re good now. We didn’t really let it impact us that much. We got right back on our feet, built a whole new standard in a day. Cleaned it all up, and now we’re open.”
12-11
That type of stand is unique to secure since there is not way to close it in unless you fence it with high steel bars. If you put chain link around it, they cut it to gain access and if you fix the hole they cut another hole. If it is a wood fence, they rip off the slats to gain entry, and burn the sluts sometimes for heat overnight, creating a fire hazard.
Once their start hanging out in an area, if you don’t move them along right away, showing them you will not allow they to hang out in that area of your property, then they slowly grow in numbers, tagging the walls/buidling/fence with their gang tag and other offensive tags such as F police and F LPS. As they frequent your property, more damage occurs and in more than one case, fire! Bow On Tong, Lethbridge Hotel, multiple sheds, garages and even vacant houses around the city are perfect examples.
If you call police, they take at least 4 hours to respond the location and in some cases just call and don’t show up. When they leave a large mess with 1/2 a dumpster of garbage scattered around YOUR property, syringes and urine all over the door and doorway and in other areas, the city promises they will send someone to clean it up and power-wash the urine, but another failure in services, because they never show up and when you call they say, who said they were coming to clean it up, when it was that same 311 person you talked to a week prior. And while you clean up the mess and you get threatened by the criminals on the streets, police do nothing, saying ‘don’t worry about it’ and there is nothing we can do.
As usual, the taxpayer is lied to by the city, services promised never happen and the basic rights to safety and protection of property are left in the hands of the property owner.
So what is left? How do we protect our property and ourselves? So we need to hire security because police cannot enforce the laws that we as taxpayers pay for? Do we have to pay someone to clean up the mess then sue the city?
Across North America lawsuits are now being used to gain back both business and private citizens freedom to enjoy their property and neighbourhoods and this appears to be the last tool left to see that happen in our city because when you call police and have to wait a day, it is unacceptable.
We have absorbed too many of the costs and when you are promised services repeatedly and they never happen, it is time for action!
This fire was not the only one that weekend caused by the addicts and it is only a matter of time before someone dies! When that happens tha city will cover their butts and come up with excuses as usual!
Many have lost their businesses directly impacted by the addicts who hang in the downtown area and this stand is considered the part of the downtown since it was near the mall and shelter.
I have lost track how many businesses have closed or shut down in the last year downtown and you can’t get accurate information from the city!
I can see more lawsuits on the way, after all if the MLA can sue LPS then why can’t we sue the city!
——————–
I should add: Where did he get the shopping cart, the computers and the bear spray he was carrying?
All were probably stolen! If I carried bear spray around downtown or even a pocket knife and said it was for my protection, I would be charged because you cannot carry a weapon for protection. Most of these people have weapons, as stated in a council meeting several weeks ago. Yet when they threaten you, nothing is done!
Some residents are suing their cities. Lethbridge could probably do the same, but ,when you consider you cannot get any support for some thinking outside the box from either residents or Businesses, its over. Lethbridge is either afraid of the City Officials or their Church and will do nothing to stop this or perhaps at best an 11th hour rally which will be too late.
Don’t bother wasting money suing the City. The City’s insurer will go to any length to defend the city, at any cost. They have deep pockets, and they will fight to the bitter end so as not to lose.
Rememer the “Big House”?
I do know that suing the city was considered by a group of businesses, who in the end didn’t want to wait for 5-7 years to recoup their losses and investments in legal counsel.
At that time the case had merit.
Would it bring change that is needed now? Probably no, but I am not an expert!
One thing for sure, the city has dropped the ball on services it promises to provide and in many cases their is a lack of training and knowledge in the system that is supposed to provide those services, mostly because the city keeps moving who is supposed to provide those services . . . always changing so the staff cannot keep up!
Protesting and constant pressure on the administration is the best way to see change I believe! The problem is lots of people want to complain, but few want to get involved with bringing change and when asked, they back down.
I know it is tough, being attacked, even threatened by those who oppose our views and even politicians falsely accusing us of being vigilantes when they have zero proof, because there were not any such actions and even one local politician who tried to have our venue we had booked to discuss the issues, cancelled the day before it was supposed to occur, so there are challenges.
But . . . this city is worth fighting for and prior to this addiction crisis people who visited wanted to come to retire here or find work here, now they want to move. Thankfully we have taken a lot of new Canadians to keep our population up . . . but we are tired of having to clean up after the garbage was strewn all over our property, with piles of feces and urine stains, blood filled syringes, damages and graffiti and being left on the hook to clean up that mess.
If we try to move these people along we get threatened and if we call police they take hours to respond . . . police response times have returned to where they were 4-5 years ago and that is just unacceptable.
I can appreciate the frustration . . . but our leadership says they feel safe downtown and every other city has issues . . .
Does that sound like a real leader? One who stands up for our city and is pro-active? NO!!!
Imagine if in World War II Winston Churchill said, well the Nazis have taken over parts of Europe and are coming for us, there is nothing we can do! The world would be much different because if that stand was not made by Winston Churchill to protect England, the Nazis would have continued across the pond to North America.
We need leadership who listens to the citizens and acts to protect them and their livelihoods and we are not seeing it onces again.
This is the time you should be noting that actions of your politicians, half-way through their term, because they try to change in the last 12-18 months of their term to get your vote.
I usually have my mind made up mid-term who to vote for! Then I don’t get sucked in by their facade that is only to get re-elected!
The province is responsible for healthcare and housing so no, the case would have little merit. I’d be surprised if any law offices would take that type of suit.
You should make yourself aware of the Alberta Municipalities Act
Part 1
Purposes, Powers and Capacity
of Municipalities
Municipal purposes
3 The purposes of a municipality are
(a) to provide good government,
(a.1) to foster the well‑being of the environment,
(a.2) to foster the economic development of the municipality,
(b) to provide services, facilities or other things that, in the opinion of council, are necessary or desirable for all or a part of the municipality,
(c) to develop and maintain safe and viable communities, and
(d) to work collaboratively with neighbouring municipalities to plan, deliver and fund intermunicipal services.
RSA 2000 cM‑26 s3;2016 c24 s6;2017 c13 s1(3);
2022 c16 s9(3)
Corporation
4 A municipality is a corporation.
1994 cM‑26.1 s4
Powers, duties and functions
5 A municipality
(a) has the powers given to it by this and other enactments,
(b) has the duties that are imposed on it by this and other enactments and those that the municipality imposes on itself as a matter of policy, and
(c) has the functions that are described in this and other enactments.
1994 cM‑26.1 s5
Natural person powers
6 A municipality has natural person powers, except to the extent that they are limited by this or any other enactment.
1994 cM‑26.1 s6
Part 2
Bylaws
Division 1
General Jurisdiction
General jurisdiction to pass bylaws
7 Subject to section 7.1, a council may pass bylaws for municipal purposes respecting the following matters:
(a) the safety, health and welfare of people and the protection of people and property;
(b) people, activities and things in, on or near a public place or place that is open to the public;
(c) nuisances, including unsightly property;
(d) transport and transportation systems;
(e) businesses, business activities and persons engaged in business;
(f) services provided by or on behalf of the municipality;
(g) public utilities;
(h) wild and domestic animals and activities in relation to them;
(i) the enforcement of bylaws made under this or any other enactment, including any or all of the following:
(i) the creation of offences;
(ii) for each offence, imposing a fine not exceeding $10 000 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both;
(iii) providing for the imposition of a penalty for an offence that is in addition to a fine or imprisonment so long as the penalty relates to a fee, cost, rate, toll or charge that is associated with the conduct that gives rise to the offence;
(iv) providing that a specified penalty prescribed under section 44 of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act is reduced by a specified amount if the penalty is paid within a specified time;
(v) providing for imprisonment for not more than one year for non‑payment of a fine or penalty;
(vi) providing that a person who contravenes a bylaw may pay an amount established by bylaw and if the amount is paid, the person will not be prosecuted for the contravention;
(vii) providing for inspections to determine if bylaws are being complied with;
(viii) remedying contraventions of bylaws.
===========
Protecting the community is very much a municipal mandate!!!
Apparently you’re confused which levels of government are responsible for healthcare funding and planning. So you’d seriously think that because one word in that bylaw (“health”) means municipal governments are responsible for planning and building rehab and drug addiction facilities? That’s laughable, at best. Maybe inform yourself about the responsibilities of the provincial government. Here, let me help you get informed. As you’ll note, NOWEHERE does it mention municipal governments.
“ Roles and responsibilities for health care services are shared between provincial and territorial governments and the federal government.
The provincial and territorial governments are responsible for the management, organization and delivery of health care services for their residents.”
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/canada-health-care-system.html#
Keep informing yourself how municipal governments are NOT responsible for drug addiction facility planning and funding.
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/get-help-with-substance-use.html#a3
Last time I checked the cities in Alberta are not in charge of Healthcare OR housing. Might want to call Smith. She said she was going to fix healthcare (which includes addictions), so maybe give her a call see how that goes.
Agreed, but then why does the City throw so much money at the issue?
They’re only throwing money at bandaid solutions because the UCP won’t step up and fund and help plan rehab facilities. They’ve banked billions since Smith came to office and very little is being spent on drug rehab.
Why sue a city when addictions and housing aren’t a municipal jurisdiction? Maybe suing Smith and her cronies would get them to start taking action and fund health services properly. So far, the UCP have been all talk (lots of it untrue) and no action.
I’m confident that if a class action lawsuit were to be filed, both downtown companies and citizens would join in.
Only to find out our City council isn’t responsible for housing and heathcare. Case would have little if any merit.
We could have them set up over on the corner of 2th Avenue and 12 B Street South in that parking lot. There is a pub for them across the street and a grow op supply store next door. In the past the owners have been pro SCS site and don’t believe there is a safey issue downtown,
They don’t see all the crime including the 2 senior woman assaulted in less than a week within a block of each other while they tried to keep their purses from getting stolen.
The watch performs safety walks for those who ask them to walk with them, the fire department and paramedics now wear protective vests, we still have very high crime ratings on the Canada Crime Index and even one officer warned not to walk through Galt Gardens at night.
Brewster has been sniffing too many brew fumes!
You’re the one sniffing something. You’re clearly not informed if you think you’re simple-minded solutions would work. Just another bozo comment.
That doesn’t win the case. If you are so confident, why hasn’t a suit been started? I’d suggest it’s because law firms won’t take a suit they know they’ll lose. Otherwise, one would’ve been initiated a few years ago when the injection site was open.
What are you talking about? A huge rant full of bs an misinformation. I agree that the addictions problem has gotten out of control and is the main source of homelessness, but at least speak in truths instead of posting garbage that is factually incorrect.
FYI: Addictions is a PROVINCIAL jurisdiction NOT municipal, so maybe contact our wonderful Minister of Health Adrianna LeGrange to see what her and our unqualified premier are doing about addictions in Alberta. They’ve talked a lot about addictions facilities, but so far there hasn’t been one shovel stick in the ground.
Get your facts straight before replying.
Ok brewster we get it your a big NDP supporter and your trying to place the blame on conservatives but remember this all became a problem when the NDP opened the safe consumption site and destroyed our city. If you wanna talk about addictions remember our next door NDP neighbor BC has a drug overdose rate thats breaking records ever year under their governments watch while Alberta’s overdoses have been dropping under the conservatives. Also to say lethbridge has no control over housing and dealing with addicts is absolutely ridiculous and untrue.
No, you don’t get that. I don’t fit into one of your nice neat little political boxes. I’ve voted for both Federal Liberals and PC’s (CPC) as well as PC’s provincially. So cast your juvenile names somewhere else. This was a problem LONG before the injection site opened, but you obviously were oblivious to it.
Sure, the City has control over some aspects of addictions, but it IS NOT IN THE HEALTHCARE ASPECT of it. If you knew anything about the responsibilities of the three levels of government you’d know this. It’s taught in high school Social Studies so you might want to re-enroll so the next time you show up here you’ll have something relevant to add to the conversation.
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/get-help-with-substance-use.html#a3
On and On it goes…. All of this criminal behavior, no charges laid, no liability, no repercussions. The time has come to FIRE ALL OF CITY COUNCIL, and start to take back our once beloved city.
Go talk to Smith. City Council is not responsible for housing OR healthcare (which includes addictions). Those are provincial jurisdictions. Go talk to our genius premier.
Run for City Council then. Words are empty without action.
I’m not sure why this person is making light of having to start all over again with money lost etc. Perhaps it wasn’t his business. Is this what it’s come to. Sure come burn down my business, my house… my insurance will cover it. Wait until your insurance won’t cover you as you live in too high of a crime area (as it did to a gentleman and his garage). So, any charges laid? When will our City Council say… we’ve had enough!? Ah yes, let’s make sure that all the crime stays away from their neighborhoods. When are you going to start protecting the citizens of Lethbridge? Basically a walking meth lab and there’s nothing wrong here? Jail or recovery.
Don’t you know it is perfectly safe in Lethbridge? The Deputy Chief, an Inspector and councilor Middleton-Hope say they feel safe walking downtown and in Galt Gardens. They are all police/retired police trained in self defense. What about the senior population, which represents a large portion of this community?
They all have there heads in the sand, or elsewhere where there is no sun.
We dreamed of moving into Lethbridge, then did so, but only stayed for over 1 year and in that time our garage and shed were broke into and bicycles and other items stolen, our daughter was harassed by a naked addict in the washroom of the bus terminal downtown and our kids no longer felt safe at the downtown library so they had to take to the bus to the westside library, while avoiding the downtown bus terminal. Our home was turned into a fortress trying to make it safe.
We now live in a small community near Lethbridge, away from all the issues and are happy and found peace again. We made the right decision and refused to live in a city that burns up money as if it fell from the sky.
Nobody bothers me downtown and I’m not a big person. Is it an eyesore? Yes. Is it dangerous? Not unless you start poking your nose into someone else’s business.
Go talk to our talk radio show host premier. She’s going to fix healthcare, remember?
What, exactly do you want the City to do? Throw them in jail? How many jails are needed to house addicts? How much more tax do you want to donate to build more jails?
If you commit crimes your should go to jail. Ive got not problem with my tax money going to keep my city and family safe.
You’d absolutely be upset if your taxes went up 5% per year over the next 10 years to pay for 25 new LPS and new prison. You’d lose your mind. Lol
Where are the addiction facilities Danielle Smith?? Where are the drug treatment facilities? For all you who think the City is responsible for healthcare and housing in this province, you’re mistaken. That responsibility belongs squarely on the shoulders of the UCP. The provincial government is responsible for both. This City Council has been very proactive at trying to get the province and other agencies involved in the drug and housing crisis, but the UCP is full of talk and no action.
Put blame where blame belongs!