CA Dept. Sees Rise in Calls to Homeless Camps

The Lodi Fire and Police departments frequently visit the local homeless encampments in town. People who live in these camps can cause issues for these agencies and local residents.

For the fire department, it’s often reports of smoke along the river as people living there set up open fires for warmth or to cook meals.

Lodi Fire is called out to these locations for investigations of fires almost daily, said Battalion Chief Pete Iturraran.

A few times a month, those campfires can turn into brush fires.

“It’s a social issue and it’s become a lot worse in the last few years,” Iturraran said.

Although at times Lodi Fire calls in law enforcement to investigate a fire at a homeless camp, the fires often cause people to leave the area very quickly, so it is often not clear who may have started the fire.

During the winter, firefighters field many more calls for transients in need of medical attention.

“They know the system and use medical issues to go to the hospital for a warm place to stay at night,” Iturraran said.

Officers respond to calls of transient people trespassing and camping out on private property several times a day, according to Lodi Police Lt. Fernando Martinez.

On these calls, police will usually have people pick up their stuff and leave if they are trespassing — and also offer information about social services that may help their situations, he said.

This is in addition to the pre-planned regular sweeps that are done with various agencies to offer more in-depth services to those who may need it.

Martinez offered advice to residents looking to discourage camping on their properties, saying the best way is to make it less easy to access the property.

“They can also keep weeds down and make it harder for people to conceal themselves near unused cars,” Martinez said.

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