Westlake homeless encampment fire frustrates Los Angeles residents after causing damage on Rampart Boulevard

WESTLAKE, Calif. (KABC) — A growing number of fires at homeless encampments are threatening Los Angeles neighborhoods after another incident in Westlake.

The latest fire on Rampart Boulevard near 3rd Street occurred early Friday morning, causing damage to a nearby business and car.

“I'm angry because the city, even the police, don't do stupid things,” said Dennis Fernandez, a Westlake resident.

These growing frustrations come after residents approached the city to warn them of the fires, without success, despite the encampment having existed for more than 6 months.

“It's dirty. I don't know what's going to come out of it, I don't know,” LaCreasha Lawrence said. “So I walk all around. I don't trust my daughter to go to the bus stop, so I just take her to school. It's bad, it's everywhere – and every time you turn around, if they clean it, they put it Back Right.”

Jae Son is the property manager of the commercial building next to the encampment. It's unclear how the fire started, but property manager Jae Son captured video of a previous fire at the encampment, saying it was an ongoing problem.

“That was our main concern: the property was going to be damaged because of the numerous fires. The sanitation facilities were set up, they gave the homeless people 30 minutes to move to the side and they did a little cleanup ” said Son. “After 30 minutes, they immediately come back to set up the tents. I complained to the police, the health department, the city, I sent emails and nothing happens.”

When Eyewitness News arrived on scene, anyone living in the burned encampment was gone. However, one resident said he moved a block away to open a new encampment.

“Our office is coordinating with the Department of Sanitation to clean the area of ​​debris. This location receives regular cleanings from the Department of Sanitation, including a recent cleaning this Monday,” Councilman Hugo Soto's office wrote- Martinez in a statement. “Our office will continue to schedule regular cleanups at our sensitive and high fire risk encampments to keep residents and local businesses safe.”

Despite the city's efforts, residents are still unhappy with the encampment's ongoing problems that prevent them from using the sidewalk.

“We called several times, my daughter called several times, my neighbor called several times,” Fernandez said, adding that the city said “we're looking into it, but that was it. We'll take care of it.” “.