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The quick read: An early-morning fire struck one unit of the Hearthstone supportive housing complex on Commerce Avenue on Monday. One resident was rescued from the burning unit for smoke inhalation, and the 46-suite building suffered water and smoke damage. Several residents are displaced; the cause is not yet determined. Nearby business owners say crime and disorder around the complex keep getting worse.

On Monday morning, a fire broke out in one unit of Kelowna's Hearthstone supportive housing complex on Commerce Avenue, triggering a large emergency response and the evacuation of the 46-suite building.

Fire crews found fire and smoke on the second floor and rescued one person from the burning unit, who had suffered smoke inhalation.

The blaze was contained to a single unit, but water and smoke damage displaced several residents.

The Kelowna Fire Department has not yet determined the cause of the fire.

The incident landed on Commerce Avenue like a match in a powder keg — because nearby business owners have been warning for months that disorder around the complex is escalating.

MasterGlass AutoGlass manager Shawn Kopf, whose shop sits next to the building, told Global News that conditions have deteriorated over the three years he has worked there, describing open drug use and dozens of people "walking like zombies" near the property every day.

Business owner Gerald Goertsen told Global News his security cameras caught someone ripping out the plants beside his commercial building, and recounted an earlier incident in which his office door handles were tied together with a plastic bag — trapping him inside while his vehicle was broken into.

"It's not safe to be here anymore," Goertsen said. "Something needs to change."

The Hearthstone complex is operated by the John Howard Society of Okanagan and Kootenay, which did not respond to Global News' request for comment by publication time.

The conservative read: supportive housing without enforcement, treatment, and real accountability is a warehouse, not a solution.

Businesses on Commerce Avenue are not asking for much — just consequences for the people who vandalize their property, and a neighbourhood their staff can walk through safely.

This is now the defining issue of the municipal election, with incumbent mayor Tom Dyas campaigning on a "safer streets" platform that includes 75 new frontline public-safety positions.

Promises are cheap; the fire on Monday is what reality looks like when public safety loses.

Kelowna voters should ask every candidate one question: what exactly will you do — and on what date?