Price of fires at homeless camps put at $1M

Dozens of blazes reported at one Caltrans property

Oakland spent nearly $80,000 responding to fires at one homeless encampment on Caltrans property over the course of a year, according to a new report that highlights the impact such camps have on the city and raises questions about the transit agency's responsibility.

Firefighters responded to a total of 816 fires at Oakland encampments around the city between October 2021 and October 2022 — including 63 at the massive Wood Street encampment alone. Fires at the Wood Street camp — formerly situated on vacant Caltrans land in West Oakland before it was disbanded this fall — cost the city an estimated $78,441, according to the report by the Oakland Fire Department. The city spent nearly as much — an estimated $77,196 — responding to 62 fires on the side of freeways maintained by Caltrans that were not necessarily related to homeless camps.

Based on the Fire Department's cost estimates, the city spent more than $1 million fighting fires at encampments during that time period.

City Councilmembers Sheng Thao and Carroll Fife requested the report after a spate of fires on Caltrans land along Interstate 580 this fall. The Fire Department presented it last week during a meeting of the city's finance committee.

For several councilmembers, the report raised questions about what Caltrans should be doing to better maintain its property and mitigate fire danger, and who should shoulder the financial burden of repeated fires.

“The Caltrans properties are in a state of risky lack of maintenance every day, all the time,” Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan said. “Caltrans, you are hereby put on notice that your properties are in a dangerous condition and you have been negligent in failing to clean them.”

Caltrans did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The City Council became alarmed by the situation after a series of fires along Interstate 580, including one in September that spread to four homes and displaced at least 10 people. Arson was to blame in at least two of the fires. In another, a vehicle caught fire and the blaze engulfed vegetation on the hillside off the westbound 580 near the Seminary Avenue exit — requiring 70 firefighters and several hours to bring the fire under control. Thick brush in the area appears to have exacerbated the fires. There are homeless encampments in the area, though none have been specifically tied to any of the freeway fires, Fire Department spokesman Michael Hunt said.

“It definitely shows that even though we had been there dozens of times, there wasn't maybe a clear urgency or strategy in which to mitigate those hazards which had fire personnel repeatedly going to that location,” Hunt said of the report. “It also speaks to the frequency of homeless fires in general.”

Hunt suggested making quarterly reports to the city about fire activity, and including Caltrans and other transit agencies with an Oakland presence, such as BART, in the discussion.

As Oakland's homeless population has soared, with sprawling encampments of tents, RVs and makeshift shacks becoming home to more people who have nowhere else to go, the risk of fires in those communities has grown. Tents, RVs and wooden dwellings built from pallets and other scraps can be extremely flammable and they're often so close to one another that when one goes up, it ignites several others. People living in the camps also often use open flames to cook and stay warm.

Each encampment fire, on average, requires two engines and eight firefighters, and takes 75 minutes to put out, according to the report. It costs about $500 per hour to operate a fire engine.

The Wood Street encampment that was a key focus of the report was cleared out by Caltrans this fall, following a court battle, protests from residents and activists and even intervention from Gov. Gavin Newsom. But many residents forced off the Caltrans property simply moved onto the surrounding streets or into a nearby vacant lot owned by the city.

“We're definitely still seeing fires along Wood Street,” Hunt said. “There's still a huge encampment that exists there.”