Back-to-back homeless encampment fires threaten South Land Park homes

By ASHLEY SHARP

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    SACRAMENTO (KOVR) — Neighbors in South Land Park say they are feeling the heat. They’re not talking about the rising temperatures but back-to-back fires near their Oregon Drive and Gilgunn Way homes.

The Sacramento Fire Department responded both Monday and Tuesday to three fires at homeless encampments right behind their yards.

The flames are much too close for comfort if you ask the neighbors who spotted the smoke rising just feet from their houses.

“I wouldn’t be too worried about folks living behind my home if they weren’t setting fires. It’s just unacceptable,” said neighbor Kathy Freire. “It’s not about hating any people or wanting to condemn any people. At this point, it’s an absolute safety issue.”

The tents are hidden directly behind her fence under the dense canopy of trees and brush where the Del Rio Trail and Union Pacific railroad tracks back right up to the homes. The vegetation is just fuel for fires.

“With the weather getting hot, I’m really scared,” said Freire’s next-door neighbor Phillip Poon.

Poon even took his garden hose to the rising smoke before the Sacramento Fire Department arrived both Monday and Tuesday to try and knock down the flames. He is worried now about what’s next if a home catches fire.

“It could be a disaster in this court,” said Poon. “We already survived the 4th of July and we didn’t catch on fire. I hope these people hold themselves accountable not to keep doing this. It’s my livelihood here too.”

So where is the solution to three fires in just two days? The neighbors have all reported their concerns to 311, the City of Sacramento’s hub for connecting neighbors to resources. So far, it’s been to no avail.

Sacramento Fire told them to ask for weed abatement from the city to clear the heavy brush and help prevent fires.

“Some of this bigger vegetation, we can’t do it. We need help,” said Poon.

It’s why one 82-year-old neighbor, who asked CBS13 not to identify her, takes her lawnmower and weed eater out to clear as much of the grass and brush as she can herself.

“I worry about fire because it is so dry back there,” she said.

She added that help feels far off.

“You’re in a constant merry-go-round and you never get an answer from anybody,” said the 82-year-old neighbor.

“The accountability is not there and I think that’s a major part of it,” said Poon.

Now, they hope answers come before someone gets hurt; knowing the Sacramento fire and police departments who have answered their emergency calls can only do so much.

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