After authorities determined that last month’s Skirball fire in Bel-Air was caused by a cooking fire at a homeless encampment, Mayor Eric Garcetti and fire officials unveiled a plan to clear tent clusters in hillside areas.
But the announcement frustrated downtown business leaders, who say that fires on or near skid row are a daily problem that City Hall has not adequately addressed.
“The city did the right thing after the Skirball fire,” Estela Lopez, executive director of Downtown Industrial Business Improvement District, said at a neighborhood council meeting last week. “But human life and property should have the same value [everywhere].”
Homeless encampment fires are endangering human lives and businesses in skid row, community leaders say. The fires start when homeless residents cook, try to keep warm or use drugs. Other blazes are intentionally set.
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