Concerns for safety in Nanaimo’s tent city escalated this week in the wake of a fatal drug overdose and a fire in one of the tents.

“We’ve had a real spike in RCMP calls for service since the tent city went up,” Ian Thorpe, Nanaimo’s acting mayor, said Saturday. “We’ve had more than 200 calls. It’s an ongoing concern for safety, of course.”

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CHEK News reports that on Wednesday, Bellrena McKay died of a fatal overdose in one of the tents. B.C. Ambulance paramedics tried to revive her, but she died later in hospital.

On Thursday, there was a fire in one of the tents, a woman was shot in the face with a BB gun and there were two overdoses.

Thorpe said the fire department “has certainly been concerned about the risk of fire and also the drug use situation that, unfortunately, we’re seeing happen. It’s not a safe situation.”

Nanaimo RCMP Const. Gary O’Brien said police continue to monitor the activity inside tent city as they wait for lawyers to argue for an injunction in B.C. Supreme Court.

“Until such time, it’s business as usual,” O’Brien said.

The issue of drugs and homelessness has become a flashpoint as tension grows around the tent city on industrial land near Nanaimo Harbour.

The city issued a trespass notice on May 25, ordering the more than 100 tent city residents to vacate the property at 1 Port Dr. by May 29. No one moved and Nanaimo RCMP did not go in to forcibly remove residents.

The city has filed a petition asking the B.C. Supreme Court to rule on whether the campers should vacate or stay. A two-day hearing has been scheduled for the week of July 16.

Troy DeSouza, the lawyer representing Nanaimo, said the city hoped its petition would be heard sooner, but the lawyer representing tent city residents was not ready to present their arguments.

After the B.C. Supreme Court justice hears both sides, DeSouza expects he or she will reserve a decision. That means it could be late July or August before a court ruling is made.

The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that people who are homeless are allowed to erect a temporary overnight shelter in a park between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m., but the tents and personal possessions must be removed in the morning.

DeSouza expects the decision on the Nanaimo tent city to strongly influence the situation in Saanich, where a notice to vacate has been issued to residents of the tent city along the Trans-Canada Highway near Uptown.