Windsor Fire has notified Street Help that it is not a shelter.
Street Help officials say on average, 15 people have been sleeping there the past few nights.
Windsor Fire Chief Steve Laforet, says the building is not zoned for that.
"That's certainly not what the legal occupancy is so we have concerns with people staying overnight. There was not supervision when this happened, there's no fire safety plan. So there is certainly a much more safer way to deal with people that need help," says Laforet.
District Chief, Winton Marchant at Street Help, January 5, 2018. (Photo by CTV's Angelo Aversa)
Laforet adds, Windsor Fire Rescue Service isn't throwing people out with nowhere to go, saying "We posted an order, there's information on the door that has the phone number and the location of the downtown shelters that are available to them. So it's really a case where some people may think that the fire department is tossing people onto the street in this weather and nothing could be farther from the truth."
An extreme cold warning remains in effect, with temperatures Friday night expected to dip down to -23, -36 with the wind chill.