Two fires are burning near the Iron Horse Trail in Concord, near the Lazy Dog restaurant, and in Pleasant Hill, near Monument Blvd.
At least one person has been injured near the Pleasant Hill fire. The victim is unresponsive due to smoke inhalation.
Both fires are in the area of homeless camps.
UPDATE: The fires have been extinguished.
Homeless fires…
How long until we are realistic about fixing this.
Probably about the time they touch one off during a red flag day and half of Contra Costa burns. It’s pretty predictable that it will happen given enough time and enough hot, windy days.
But we can always ignore it and blame global warming instead.
A gate is open to the creek area near the Lazy Dog Restaurant and the fencing needs repair. Signs are posted along the Trail that say: Ca. Penal Code 602 – No Trespassing. Property of Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. The signs near this area are blocked out with graffiti. Time to get on it.
Back in the late 80’s the Flood Control Dist was on a roll removing homeless camps until……….Susan Prather and her group got all over it, went to the press, slammed in the CC Times & TV news them for doing it, got all the “oh those poor people” types on the band wagon and in the end not only was the Flood Control Dist stop via court injunction but they were forced to supply a couple of dumpsters and a few port-o-potties at varies sights for about a year. There was a running joke about when the canal had high water the homeless could jump in the dumpster and go for their winter cruise.
Well Folks-
You are correct. The Flood Control District did (re)move homeless camps from the channels once upon a time. But political correctness and biased reporting made that a no-win proposition. They became nothing more then Merry Maids for the homeless.
So those waterways the County is going to sink $11,000,000 into will remain open sewers and trash dispensers for the homeless. If you or I did that we would face public excoriation and huge civil fines.
As for the fires? You would think that the County/Flood Control District would incur civil liability because they know this danger exists and don’t adequately address it. I addressed it by leaving California.
In the old days, if the police failed to remove transients, the people did it. Transients, having no connection to the area, have always been sources of crime, especially sex crimes.
If this keeps up we will see the return of citizen militias, and won’t the police be upset that their bowl of rice is threatened.
Don’t want to see this happen? Then police, do your damn job.
It’s not entirely the fault of the police. The police do not create laws and direct others on policy. Our elected officials from the state level on down to local offices as well as the courts have made homeless people into a protected class of citizens and actively prevent the police from carrying out their duties.
It’s illegal to sleep in your car on public property, so I assume camping on the same is illegal as well.
But it’s true: the police do what they are told regardless of what the law says.
Well, not entirely at the moment. The 9th Circuit with their decision in Martin v Boise has changed things. Camping isn’t always camping when there’s lack of shelter beds.
A federal judge has a multi part order against LA requiring they find housing for thousands of transients now rather than later and require the city to put $1 billion (yes that’s a b not a m) into an escrow account to pay for his order. Shockingly the city is appealing his order.
I recently seen a man working on his “house”. It was truly amazing to see that he had built a wooden structure on the canal , probably 10 foot by 10 foot. It had windows made from pallets and even had a door. I thought hmmm, If I owned a construction company I might hire this guy. He clearly worked hard and didn’t spend much money doing it. He could use a paycheck and has some skills. It is sad to see it go to waste because of drugs, mental illness, and/or circumstances.
Hopefully we stop making it so hard to force them into treatment. The red tape is nuts. I would rather our tax dollars go to mental hospitals instead of the bandaid fixes of hotels.
The creek dweller probably stole all his tools and nails from Home Depot.
The fire near Monument was caused by fireworks. It was right by my home; neighbors all heard the firework go off, and the firefighters said it was probably an M80.
Residents with hoses kept this under control till the fire dept. arrived.
Keep your hose handy this weekend!
.. homeless start 90% I bet of all these… and we just watch and let it happen… horrible use of taxpayer $$ …we need new leadership badly
If the city would set up homeless camps, provide toilets and dumpsters that would prevent a lot of these fires and give them a bit of help. Instead our bright leaders go in and destroy there camps and move them along until, again they come in a destroy the next camp and so on and so on. Funny how you see the city taking all their belongings and throw them in a dumpster that they bring in instead of providing one. How is that helping the homeless.
Provide toilets and dumpsters? Really??? Why not add refrigerators stocked with food, running water, laundry service?
Enabling the homeless to stay homeless and jobless is the problem. Until it is illegal to live on the streets and live off the hard work of others, this problem will only magnify.
Well, no matter what you say there will always be homeless. providing toilets and dumpsters does not enable them, only takes care of the trash and pi*& and cra*
Anonymous There is a law against camping Here is the code. Happy reading ….This says all.
Concord Ordinance 9.05.050 Camping.Share
(a) Restrictions. No person shall camp anywhere in the city, whether on public or private property, except as hereinafter expressly permitted. “To camp” means to do any of the following:
(1) Sleeping (11:00 p.m. to 8:30 a.m.) To sleep at any time between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. in any of the following places:
a. Outdoors, with or without bedding, tent, hammock, or other similar protection or equipment;
b. In, on, or under any structure not intended for human occupancy, whether with or without bedding, tent, hammock, or other similar protection or equipment.
(2) Setting up bedding (11:00 p.m. to 8:30 a.m.) To establish or maintain, outdoors or in, on, or under any structure not intended for human occupancy, at any time between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 8:30 a.m., a temporary or permanent place for sleeping by setting up any bedding, sleeping bag, blanket, mattress, tent, hammock, or other sleeping equipment in such a manner as to be immediately usable for sleeping purposes.
(3) Setting up campsite (any time). To establish or maintain, outdoors or in, on, or under any structure not intended for human occupancy, at any time during the day or night, a temporary or permanent place for cooking or sleeping by setting up any bedding, sleeping bag, blanket, mattress, tent, hammock, or other sleeping equipment or by setting up any cooking equipment, with the intent to remain in that location overnight.
(b) Permitted camping. Camping is permitted in the city only in the following circumstances:
(1) Camping in public areas specifically set aside and clearly marked for public camping purposes;
(2) Camping events authorized by the city;
(3) Camping in the yard of a residence, with the consent of the owner or occupant of the residence, where the camping is in the rear yard of the residence or where the camping is in an area of a side yard of the residence that is separated from view from the street by a fence or hedge or other obstruction; except that camping shall not be permitted under this subsection where it is conducted in such a manner as to constitute a nuisance because of noise, inadequate sanitation, or other matters offensive to persons of ordinary sensibility; nor shall camping be permitted under this subsection where the camping in any yard is of such frequency, intensity, or duration as to constitute a use of land prohibited by any provision of this Code; nor shall camping be permitted under this subsection where any fee, charge, or other monetary consideration is collected for the privilege of camping or for any services or the use of any facilities related thereto;
(4) Camping events for minors sponsored by any nonprofit organization; except that camping shall not be permitted under this subsection where it is conducted in such a manner as to constitute a nuisance because of noise, inadequate sanitation, or other matters offensive to persons of ordinary sensibility; nor shall camping be permitted under this subsection where the camping at any location is of such frequency, intensity, or duration as to constitute a use of land prohibited by any provision of this Code.
(c) Penalty. A violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor punishable in accordance with section 1.05.230 of this Code.
(Code 1965, § 4107; Code 2002, § 66-5. Ord. No. 85-40)
Here is more that are not enforced
9.05.060 Loitering in or near tunnels, bridges, and other areas.Share
(a) No person shall loiter in any tunnel, pedestrian subway, pedestrian overpass, or on any bridge overpass, or at or near the entrance thereto or exit therefrom, or at or near any abutment or retaining wall adjacent to such entrance or exit, or any retaining wall or abutment adjacent to any freeway, street, or highway open and used for vehicular traffic or adjacent to that portion thereof used for vehicular traffic, or any public property in the proximity of such bridge, overpass, or retaining wall or abutment.
(b) Any person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Code 1965, § 4169; Code 2002, § 66-6. Ord. No. 1204)
I don’t know why some of us don’t stand up for ourselves because granted a majority of the homeless are destructive no respect for themselves or others ,property blah blah, But I grew up in this town and work here raised my kids was married for 16 years pentacostal Went to church a couple of times a week ,as a matter of fact the mayor,Tim grayson for a minute took over my church .I have had 11 back and neck surgeries ,fusions coxejectomy lamenectomy was pronounced doa trying to save my kids from Christmas Eve morning fire I raised my two boys and my sisters through my surgeries. I have fibromyalgia (the invisible disease) PTSD depression big shocker there and I’m real sick with Ms I can’t find a lick of help or many kind faces to not just give me a handout but a hand up my God I fight for everything I’ve ever got which ain’t much but if even half of you stopped and thought about people that are out here because they are I’ll or put yourself in this position for five minutes and pray for a tender heart instead of back biting and blaming the homeless for everything and I mean everything .some of us have jumped through hoops for years and are still out in this violent especially for us I’ll women hoping for a miracle because what else do we have but to get thrown in with the rebellious one and we are drowning and losing our little .miniscule of hope. Shame on all of you thank you so much for your time Heather head may god bless and keep every one of you