First responders in East County estimate that 185 fires in recent years involved homeless encampments, amounting to more than a tenth of all blazes throughout three neighboring cities. Last year there were 56 incidents that appeared to begin near homeless people or tent camps in El Cajon, La Mesa an d Lemon Grove, according to Heartland Fire and Rescue Department data obtained through a records request. That was a slight decrease from 2023, when there were 63. The numbers illustrate the danger faced by all residents, housed and unhoused, as county officials consider cracking down on both encampments and camp fires. “It is a threat,” said Heartland Chief Bent Koch. The presence of potentially hazardous materials, such as propane tanks, complicated efforts to extinguish those fires. Access is another issue: The chief noted that the department had even faced blazes in underground storm drains. “Many of them were far enough in where we couldn’t make entry or put it out without having additional safety precautions,” Koch said. The county Board of Supervisors plans to soon consider a camping ban that would boost penalties for sleeping outside as the region reels from blazes that recently swept through Southern California. The threat of encampment fires has been repeatedly cited as justification for more enforcement, particularly in rural parts of the county, although the true scope of the problem is unknown. Cal Fire often puts out blazes in unincorporated areas and the agency’s public data do not note when incidents involve homeless residents. Santee’s fire department similarly doesn’t have a database summarizing how often firefighters are called to encampments. The agencies that do attempt to quantify the problem put asterisks next to their numbers. Heartland’s records show that there were 185 fires where first responders included the words “homeless” and “transient” in their incident reports, but those observations may only amount to suspicions about how blazes began. Even extensive investigations can yield inconclusive results. Heartland’s methodology is similar to what’s used by firefighters in the city of San Diego, which classifies incidents as “likely” beginning near encampments. That city saw more than 1,100 cases just last year, making up almost a fifth of all San Diego blazes. The Heartland data goes back to April 2021, when the department updated its record-keeping system. Older numbers were not available because of the switch. During the last three-plus years, most of the possible encampment fires — 104 — were in El Cajon, East County’s largest city and host of the largest unsheltered population among the three municipalities, according to last year’s point-in-time count. Lemon Grove had 58 while La Mesa logged 23. Although Lemon Grove is smaller than its neighbors, the city’s limited resources have long hampered efforts to get people off the street. (That may soon change since Lemon Grove landed a multi-million-dollar state grant to house more than 100 people.) One death in 2023 was linked to a potential encampment fire in La Mesa. Records show that the cause remains under investigation and more information about the victim was not immediately available. Those living in encampments face considerable risks. Judy Scheuer, who started the nonprofit Hope for the Homeless Lakeside, said she knew one woman who almost burned alive when someone set her tent on fire. “The women are just vulnerable and victimized.” All together, possible encampment fires burned less than 2 acres but caused about $52,500 in property damage, according to the data. The blazes were not among the most destructive in the three cities. Koch, the Heartland chief, praised El Cajon police for quickly clearing encampments and La Mesa’s HOME program for offering help to people living outside. Both enforcement and services were needed to ease the threat, he said. Homelessness countywide has grown almost every month for years and there is nowhere near enough shelter for everybody seeking it. East County especially has generally had few available beds, although there are programs that pay for rooms in local motels and the county plans to eventually build small cabins for homeless residents in Lemon Grove. Leaders of the East County Transitional Living Center in El Cajon recently said their wait list included 500 families. Staff writer Kristen Taketa contributed to this report. ...read more read less