In the afternoon of Sunday, February 13, a fire occurred at a well-established encampment at the Hazel/Linden location of the Woodside Road/El Camino cloverleaf. The fire occurred at 1:35 p.m. and the fire investigator cleared the site at 5:06 p.m. Fortunately, there were no injuries, but there was property damage to a fence of an adjacent four-plex residential property and two cars also sustained minor damage due to heat exposure. Five propane tanks were recovered from the site; however, they were not involved in the fire. The fire involved tents, mattresses, and personal property. The investigation was complete and the exact cause was deemed undetermined.
The City has been actively coordinating with the State Department of Transportation (CalTrans) for months as many encampments in Redwood City are located on CalTrans property, such as the location of this most recent incident.
“We are calling on CalTrans to come to the table this week with our City and our legislative representatives to develop an immediate plan to protect our community from the health and safety issues created by encampments on their land. We are grateful to our legislators for their collaboration and responsiveness. Thankfully, no injuries were sustained as a result of the most recent encampment fire but we need immediate action to prevent future incidents,” said Redwood City Mayor, Giselle Hale.
Additionally, the City has arranged for civilian homeless outreach workers to regularly visit the encampment and provide resources to homeless individuals. Representatives from LifeMoves, Downtown Streets Team, and the City’s mental health clinician, Patricia Baker, have all been conducting outreach at this location, as well as to the other encampments at the cloverleaf. These efforts strive to ensure that individuals have the opportunity to move into housing, and to support community health and safety.
Housing affordability and homelessness were the top community concerns identified in a recent community survey. The City’s March 14 State of the City Address will focus on the City’s substantial efforts to eliminate homelessness and ensure homes for all.