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Up In Up In Flames Flames

URBAN FIRES ARE LATEST CRISIS LINKED TO HOMELESSNESS

While massive wildfi res in California make headlines, the increase in fi res around homeless encampments doesn’t receive the same attention. Sacramento endures this alarming trend with other major cities, including Oakland, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose.

Sacramento’s 2022 homeless count found 9,278 unsheltered people in the county. Despite massive taxpayer investments, the numbers continue to move in the wrong direction. The county had 5,570 homeless in 2019, and 2,538 in 2013.

During the past decade, encampmentrelated fi res grew with the homeless population. An April 2022 report by the Sacramento Sierra Club notes the Sacramento Fire Department responded to 536 encampment fi res between 2013 and 2019, an average of 89 a year. The report cited 156 encampment fi res in 2021. Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District saying fi refi ghters responded to a 2-acre vegetation fi re along the American River Parkway. Illegal encampments are common in the area.

Downtown and Midtown are heavily impacted by urban fi res. On May 5, an early morning fi re was reported along a fence near the rear of a home in the 2700 block of T Street. The fi re engulfed the fence and burned the home’s deck.

Sacramento fi re offi cials said the house began to burn, but crews tackled the fl ames and prevented extensive damage. Power lines nearby were affected. The fi re’s cause has not been established, but a family member of mine lives in the area and says transients are always present and property destruction is common.

As for fi re investigations, local agencies have limited resources and expanded caseloads. Even if they

CH CH

By Cecily Hastings Publisher’s Desk

In addition to human suffering on our streets, urban fi res around encampments and related drug activities harm residents, neighborhoods and parkways. Drought makes the problem even more destructive. Urban fi res devour resources needed to fi ght massive wildfi res.

There are several reasons behind the dangerous trend of encampment fi res. Open fl ames provide heat for people living in streets and parks, and give light at night. But a candle can spark a fi re. With no fi re extinguishers nearby, fl ames quickly spread.

Investigators report fi re attacks at encampments often stem from disputes between homeless people. The sheer number of fi res, and the danger of attacks from outsiders, have unnerved fi refi ghters, investigators and communities.

Open-air drug users need fi re to light pipes of deadly fentanyl and meth. Being in a drug-induced stupor impairs judgment and impacts the safety of anyone nearby.

Encampments accumulate trash, which becomes fi re fuel. There are reports of individuals even setting fi re to their possessions because nonprofi t homeless providers issue new equipment and cash payments.

Crime contributes to fi re risk. Thieves steal cars and torch them, often using guns to ignite gas tanks. Burnedout cars are a sad, common sight on our streets. Arson for its own sake is a reality.

Urban fi res destroy trees and natural vegetation, infrastructure, and commercial and residential buildings. They cause injuries and claim the lives of humans and animals.

And urban fi res touch people miles from the blaze. Smoke and pollutants reduce air quality. A recent vehicle fi re near E Street in Midtown produced smoke and odor that traveled miles. Online air-quality maps show in vivid detail the damage from fi re.

Last year, a three-story medical building on Scripps Drive was torched. It appears the fi re started in encampments beneath the building’s eaves, hidden behind bushes.

While I was writing this column, I received notifi cation from the

OPEN FLAMES PROVIDE HEAT FOR PEOPLE LIVING IN STREETS AND PARKS, AND GIVE LIGHT AT NIGHT. BUT A CANDLE CAN SPARK A FIRE. WITH NO FIRE EXTINGUISHERS NEARBY, FLAMES QUICKLY SPREAD.

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determine an exact cause, it usually doesn’t provide satisfaction for the victims. Criminal charges only occur when there are competent witnesses.

When we built a new home last year, we were required to install an expensive fi re-suppression system. I hope we never need it. Residential and commercial fi res are devastating.

Before researching this article, I never thought much about the fi re risk our community faces from encampments, open-air drug use and criminal activity. You cannot miss seeing the depressing charred remains after a fi re. Added to the tons of trash on our streets, parks and vacant lots, parts of our city look more like a thirdworld country than California’s capital.

This becomes one more reason why we need strong leadership to usher in new approaches and proven strategies to bring people off the streets and into shelter, and to start putting their lives together with rehabilitation programs. Housing alone will never solve this crisis.

Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @ insidesacramento. n