Roger Kerr asked for a location in uReport # 188944. It is along the Rail Trail on City owned property. The squatters / homeless are opening burning on City owned property along the Rail Trail north of Gordon Pike, west and south of Terrace Drive.
There is an encampment to the east of Somersbe along the access road that runs parallel to Rogers Road that is hazardous and toxic. Earlier in the summer this was reported anonymously for fear of retaliation. Apparently 3 entities own the property - the city, county, and a railroad. All that has happened so far to address this problem is a huge dumpster being moved to the access road and MORE people moving to the encampment when Switchyard Park was cleared. I am sending a plea for clean up. I am not representing specific people in the Somersbe neighborhood, but alerting your office to the issues that have been discussed. This morning open fires were burning along the access road. There is garbage, human and animal waste, unleaded dogs, along with illegal camping sites. At the beginning of June 2024 police were called because of a disturbance including threats of murder, and the fire department was called because of all the smoke. Our backyards are no longer safe, it is difficult to sleep with open windows or be in our yards or on our decks because of the smoke, screaming, and safety of being chased. This apparently happened to at least 2 residents this summer. A dumpster does not equate to crisis management. It is difficult to communicate when we have to do it anonymously for fear of retribution. I am not being redundant, I am providing documentation.
Large fire at 10:10pm on June 19, 2024, in the woods along the Rail Trail. The homeless camp on City-owned property (according to the GIS) is burning a large, open fire this evening. This is on the Rail Trail north of Gordon Pike maybe 0.3 to 0.4 miles, east and south of the Terrace Drive area. This is a significant hazard to the City property and neighboring private property. The fires need to stop and the camps need to be cleared out immediately before the homeless burn acres of woods, fences, sheds, houses, trailers -- anything in the vicinity could go up in flames soon.
Response to 189024 -- If the fires are happening daily at the homeless camp along the Rail Trail, and the fire department (MFPD) has been out twice this month, yet the fires continue, why would there not be an option to take some level of preventative enforcement action as opposed to reactive only that is not solving the underlying issue? This would be a daily call to 911 if people in the area called every time there was a large, illegal fire. Is that the best use of resources, as opposed to the City cleaning the area up, removing those illegally burning on City property, and preventing any future fires from being started by those illegally camping on the property? The City refuses to address the problem, the county has to roll a truck out here due to the City's inaction, and the adjacent property owners suffer. All to protect illegal activity!
Gasoline leaking from a parked truck
Live fires nightly with noxious fumes and firefighters cannot access behind my home in event of an emergency. Please come see the situation fir yourself. It's dangerous. We are unsafe due to people squatting on public property yet allowed to break the law with open fires, territorial dogs, shouting and cursing all day, using the forest for a toilet.... Please come see. Help us property owners especially with 4th of July coming up. In case of fire or emergency, services have no access. That is simply unacceptable. Please help.
A large tree fell during the storm and is on top of one of the city’s fire hydrants. It is also blocking the sidewalk and half of the road.
Hello, I live at 346 S. Rogers St. My neighbor to the west has started lighting fires very frequently the last few weeks and my concern is that it is right by the public alley and by a wood fence. I have attached a picture from last night. I have one in the daylight to show location; however, can only upload one picture. Is there a way to have him move fire grate further in to his property? I have seen flames as high as 8 feet. I believe this is a dangerous situation for people going through alley.
Burning in backyard
The Woods at Latimer apartment complex has smoke detectors in units that are up to 10 years expired. Included photo are ones removed from our unit. Maintenance claims to only replace them when residents request, since "they still work" and "It's easier to leave old ones up than go into every unit and put new ones in". When batteries in these expired ones died, we alerted maintenance and they said to take them out and just "not start a fire" overnnight, as they would be out to replace them in the morning since it wasn't considered an emergency to not have working smoke detectors in the unit.