Homeless caused three recent wildfires, San Diego says, reflecting California trend

By Kenneth Schrupp
The Center Square

Homeless encampments were behind three wildfires that rocked San Diego earlier this month, sparking concerns that homelessness is a significant factor in Southern California’s recent blazes. The Los Angeles Fire Department has reported that 54% of fires citywide that it responded to were caused by homeless individuals. 

The San Diego Metro Arson Strike Team told NBC 7 that the Friars Fire in Mission Valley, the Center Fire in Rancho Bernardo, and the Gilman Fire in La Jolla all started in homeless encampments, damaging buildings, injuring firefighters and residents, and requiring evacuations. 

These fires reflect fire trends throughout Southern California that link a significant portion of fires to homeless individuals.

In 2023, California Gov. Gavin Newsom shared that a major underpass fire that shut down the Interstate 10 freeway — one of the nation’s most important and well-traveled roadways, which stretches from California to Arizona — for days was determined to be the result of “malice.” While the cause of the fire was never released, the underpass in question is associated with homeless encampments. 

City Journal has reported on how the Los Angeles Fire Department spent approximately $427 million of its $854 million total on homeless-related fires.

Congressman Kevin Kiley, whose district includes wildfire-prone sections of the Sierra Nevadas and unsuccessfully called for an audit of the state’s homelessness spending, wondered why cities are not using newly granted powers to remove and ban homeless encampments from high-risk areas. 

“This is absolutely unacceptable. Our victory at the Supreme Court last year enabled cities to clear homeless encampments,” Kiley said. “Those that refuse to do so are willfully putting their residents at risk.”

Last year, federal courts overturned an earlier ban on anti-camping ordinances, allowing cities to clear out homeless encampments. Enforcement action in San Francisco which, along with Gov. Gavin Newsom, supported overturning the ban, has resulted in a 60% decline in homeless tents since their peak in July 2023.