Published Date:
05-Jan-2012
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The man slept on a tattered mattress thrown on the metal floor, used a hotplate to warm cans of food and watched an old television set hooked up to a power source outside United Power, an electrical construction and maintenance company.

The company had purchased the container, which sat in the rear of 198 Pemberton in North Vancouver, to use as storage but never did.

“We were shocked,” said the company co-owner, who would only identify himself as Ken.

“We don’t go in and out the back and haven’t used the container for a year and a half.”

Ken said he never crossed paths with the homeless man.

“Maybe people are going to think we knew, but that wasn’t the case at all. We definitely didn’t know anyone was out there,” he said, adding “the whole thing is sad.”

North Vancouver RCMP believe the fire was caused from a candle left burning on the man’s sofa chair.

Cpl. Richard De Jong said the man had extensive family in the Lower Mainland but police are not releasing his name “out of respect for the family.”

“Part of the tragedy of this is these containers are not designed for people to live in. Once the door is closed there’s no ventilation and in this case he succumbed to smoke inhalation,” said De Jong.

“We’ve heard of people spending short periods of time [in a sea container] but never setting up a home.”

The container is about 20 to 30 feet long and 10 to 12 feet high.

De Jong said police knew the man, who was active panhandling and bottle collecting in the lower area of North Vancouver District.

The area is a commercial district with autobody shops, small warehouses and small businesses. Just two blocks away from where the man lived in the container is a service for the poor called Harvest Project.

It’s believed he would have visited the facility to get food.

He was often spotted walking in that direction in the back alley where the container was located.

Alex Fiordelmondo, of NuTrends Signs & Printing, which is adjacent to United Power, said he didn’t know the man’s name but saw him coming and going frequently.

“He was a very pleasant fellow. I’d look up and say ‘hi’ when he was going by. We get quite a few homeless people walking by here because Harvest Project is just up the street,” said Fiordelmondo.

“I didn’t know he was actually living in there [the container]. It’s pretty sad to think someone has to live in a can. It breaks your heart.”

Fiordelmondo said the man seemed shy and was hesitant to pick up the cans and bottles and food he and other staff would sometimes leave outside their business for him.

“He was very quiet. He just looked like a guy down on his luck.”

Dustin Lichetenwalk, an employee of NuTrends Signs & Printing, said he last saw the man about a month and a half ago. “I saw him coming out [of the container]. I thought maybe he worked there or lived there. It didn’t seem important to me,” he said.

Police said they believe the man lived opposite hours to most people.