West LA neighbors frustrated with homeless encampment fires under 405 Freeway
A group of West Los Angeles neighbors have grown frustrated with the constant fires from a homeless encampment under the 405 Freeway.
"It just seems like a risky situation," resident Emmanuel El-Helou said. "Something could catch on fire."
El-Helou and his neighbors live near the freeway underpass at the Sawtelle Boulevard and Pico Boulevard intersection. They say that for the last few years, the people living in the encampment have been burning fires to stay warm and cook meals.
"I live right here," El-Helou said. "It gets smokey. You can smell it down the block."
El-Helou added that the flames and smoke have become more than an annoyance or an inconvenience for those living around the encampment.
"It's open flames, nothing contained," El-Helou said. "It's always by trash and so it seems combustible and dangerous."
One of his neighbors said that on one occasion, a person started a large bonfire with flames almost reaching the overpass.
At times, the burning logs have been left unattended. Aside from the open flames, the encampment has extension chords tapping into the city's electricity to bring power into the tents, adding to the list of potential fire hazards.
"I witnessed they were putting an upholstered chair onto a fire to make the chair burn," neighbor Hiro said.
The situation has frustrated the neighbors, as the encampment sits along a jurisdictional no-man's land. The overpass is on the border between City Council Districts 11 and 15, while the California Department of Transportation oversees the land under the freeway.
Hiro said that the encampment blocks the entire sidewalk despite being a special enforcement zone barring people from obstructing the public walkway.
"It affects all of us because we now realize our tax dollars are not used efficiently," Hiro said.
The city spent $1.8 million to produce and post signs designating special zones. However, the neighbors have been left bewildered as to when the law will be enforced.
"I wish the city would take it more serious," El-Helou said. "I see police, they just drive right by."
