Occupy Nelson protesters are now openly defying orders from the Nelson Fire and Rescue after they were told to stop occupying the teepee that has been erected on the lawns of City Hall.
The order came after an inspection by Nelson fire chief Simon Grypma, which saw tarps and wooden structured dismantled at the site.
"They basically ordered that all our wooden structures be brought down and that we have no tarps over our tents unless they were certified to be fire resistant," said one of the occupiers Brett Rhyno.
"They also said that we were not allowed to use our propane tanks or our white gas or basically any fuel based flammable material used for cooking."
Rhyno said that the protocols applied to the Nelson site are the same as those applied to the Occupy Vancouver protest.
There are four occupiers who are continuing to sleep in the teepee at the City Hall site, and Rhyno said it is important to the group.
"We feel the demand not unoccupy the teepee is unreasonable, actually we've defied that order," said Rhyno. "It's the first time that we've not complied with anything that they've asked from us."
Now with temperatures dropping and snow falling, the occupiers are depending on the kindness of the community to help keep them warm.
"We're reliant entirely on community support in terms of hot food coming in which has been great, which has kept us going," said Rhyno.
But Nelson Mayor John Dooley is unsure of how much community support there actually is.
"The community is not in support of it," said Dooley. "There may be some people that are in support of it but I did a lot of door to door campaigning for our election and I would say 100 per cent of the people I spoke to asked 'When are those people leaving city hall because it doesn't look good.' In fact many people said if they did the same thing in their front yard they would be there to shut them down."
The occupiers, with the help of a lawyer, have applied to the city for power.
Dooley said he had not seen the application but said he has "absolutely not intention of putting power on to that site."
"I want to be very clear on that. If people are cold and they can't cook, then they need to go somewhere where they are warm and they can cook," he said.
The Nelson Police Department and Fire and Rescue have been paying multiple visits per day to the site "Just to check on the welfare and the well being of everyone," said police chief Wayne Holland.
"Since October 15 [march], as the Nelson Police Department we have been very pleased with the interaction that I have been invited into between the protesters and the city," said Holland.
Fire chief Simon Grypma said that due to the changing faces at the site, they are making daily visits.
"For the most part the fire department is satisfied with the measures that the Occupy Nelson has taken to ensure that they do have a safe camp site there. We work with them on an on going daily basis and make inspections nightly," said Grypma.
With regards to the teepee, Grypma said that he is waiting to here from the occupiers about whether or not they have treated the teepee to make it fire retardant.
"We've asked them to not occupy the tent until it's actually treated," said Grypma.
Even though he was reluctant to comment on what would happen if the teepee isn't treated, Grypma said there is an order in place and falls under the enforcement section of the bylaw.
"Anybody that interferes with an order of the fire department is subject to that, which would mean they may have to end up dealing with some kind of a fine or worse case scenario removed from the premises," he said. " I don't want that kind of confrontation. What I want is co-operation and to keep everyone safe."
At the committee of the whole meeting on Monday night Rhyno told council that with the help of Grypma the group were treating the teepee "as we speak."
Rhyno told the Star that Grypma said that the Occupy Nelson site could use electric heaters if they received electricity but Grypma said this is not the case.
"When you bring in any other source of energy, whether it's electrical or propane or wood there is an issue with that and it's about electrical safety," he said. "At this point I'm not prepared to an electrical utility servicing the tents either until we understand what it is that they're going to do. It's certainly not even under the fire department's authority to allow it."
Rhyno told council on Monday that the group would be willing to pay for whatever electricity they use.
Acting mayor Marg Stacey said that the issue of electricity would be discussed at today's meeting.
Dooley is meeting with representatives of social service providers, the Nelson Committee on Homelessness and Occupy Nelson on today.
The teepee is still standing at city hall, but Rhyno said it could be an "interesting" week as they defy the order.