Harbor Gateway homeless encampment sees 20 fires in 5 days, homeless advocates say

Homeless camps, RVs catching fire across LA; Arson suspected

A series of suspected arson is targeting homeless camps and RVs across Southern California.

LOS ANGELES - Community advocates and business owners in the Harbor Gateway area of Los Angeles County are raising alarm after homeless encampments have seen a massive uptick in fires in the area since last Thursday, April 20. Community members have said arson is to blame, and that while recent cleanups have helped alleviate some of the problems in the area, it's still a long way from fixed.

"There have been 20 fires in this general vicinity of the 105-110 area since last Thursday," said community advocate David Matthews. That comes out to about four fires per day within one mile of the interchange between the 105 and 110 Freeways. Matthews said all of the fires are arson, with most happening in the middle of the night.

"I think the biggest one is we had a fire at 5:30 in the morning," Matthews said. "We were out there at 5:45 so we saved the RV from going up, sat out there for an hour and then within one hour someone had set it on fire with gasoline."

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In another fire, Matthews said that a woman suffered third-degree burns. A dog living in the RV didn't make it out. First responders rushed the owner to the hospital burn unit.

The fires have happened in campers, tents, grassy encampments and along the railroad tracks.

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More than 400 RVs line the streets within a six-mile radius in an area of Harbor Gateway and unincorporated Los Angeles County.

"One of the biggest challenges we have today in the Gateway is we have all these overlapping jurisdictions," Matthews said. "So the fire that took place this weekend it actually happened on state property, so then you have to get CalTrans and CHP involved to let them know 'Hey, we had a fire," and then it was the (Los Angeles) city fire department who responded. Then you have federal property which is where the railroad comes through."

Before the latest spate of fires, Matthews counted about one fire a week in the area. The six-square-mile area, now known as the largest homeless RV encampment in the county, is home to about 550 RVs, along with crime, drugs, weapons and human waste.

Amber Sam, who lives in an RV in the area, said that those who live there dump on the street because of lack of resources. "Well maybe we wouldn't dump illegally if instead of sending bulldozers and literally sanitation workers down the street, they could put dumpsters on every block or do something different to help us dispose of our trash properly," they said.

Even with homeless outreach coming to the area every couple weeks, cleanups and a county plan meant to address homelessness, neighbors and business owners said they don't have a lot of faith that what they've called the growing Wild Wild West will calm anytime soon.