Many saw smoke go up over a homeless encampment recently. The city plans to clear the north Seattle homeless encampment. This comes just one day after a fire swept through part of the tent filled shelter. There were signs posted at the encampment along Nesbit Avenue North near North 90th Street that said all property must be removed by 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16th. Neighbors are saying that the encampment has been a magnet for crime, including open air drug activity, suspected property theft, and most recently a shooting.
From information shared with authorities, the fire started in one tent and then quickly spread to other tents. One eyewitness said he was riding his bike and noticed something odd and stopped along 90th Street near Aurora Avenue. A video shows a large plume of smoke about 30 feet in the air. People were inside at least two of the tents and everyone got without harm.
Seattle Fire Department (SFD) said the call came in at 6:38 p.m. and firefighters extinguished the fire and no injuries were reported. SFD had no details at press time on what caused the fire. Seattle police said their officers responded to the scene to assist SFD Sunday and the case was documented.
Neighboring businesses want to see the camp go too. They seem to have gotten their wish. A government post outside the encampment says anything not removed will be stored by the city for 70 days free of charge. Some neighbors told local media they will believe it when the encampment is gone. Nearby residents say they want to see the unhoused with a roof over their heads and are glad the city is taking steps to do
The encampment has become an urgent matter. The city of Seattle in an email said the site will be addressed this week and that outreach workers are engaged with residents onsite and are making offers to help people move indoors and store personal property. All the fire debris was removed by Monday morning. A half dozen tents were destroyed. In June, there were about 6 tents set up at this encampment. Now there are three times as many.
