A tenth of East County fires may have involved homeless camps, the data show

The first stakeholders of the County East estimated that 185 fires in recent years involved homeless camps, more than the tenth of all flames in three neighboring cities.

Last year, 56 incidents seemed to start near the homeless or tent camps in El Cajon, the Mesa and Lemon Grove, according to data from the Heartland Fire and Rescue Department obtained thanks to a request for files. It was a slight decrease compared to 2023, when there were 63.

The figures illustrate the danger in the face of all residents, accommodated and rebellious, while county officials plan to repress camps and camp fires.

“It’s a threat,” said Heartland chief Bent Koch. The presence of potentially dangerous materials, such as propane tanks, complicated efforts to extinguish these fires. Access is another problem: the chief noted that the department had even faced flames in the underground storm sewers.

“Many of them were far enough in the place where we could not enter or extinguish it without having additional security precautions,” said Koch.

The county supervisor’s council soon plans to consider a campsite ban that would stimulate penalties to sleep outside while the region turns out to be flames that have recently swept away Southern California. The threat of camp fires has been quoted several times as justification of more application, in particular in rural regions of the county, although the real scope of the problem is unknown.

Cal Fire often emits flames in areas not constituted in a company and the agency’s public data do not note when incidents involve homeless residents. Likewise, the Health Fire Service does not have a database summarizing the frequency to which firefighters are called to camps.

The agencies that try to quantify the problem put the asterisks next to their figures. Heartland’s files show that there were 185 fires where the first stakeholders understood the words “homeless” and “transient” in their incident reports, but these observations are only suspicion of the way the flames have started. Even in -depth surveys can give non -conclusive results.

Heartland’s methodology is similar to what is used by firefighters in the city of San Diego, which classifies incidents as “probable” starting near camps. This city saw more than 1,100 cases last year, composing almost a fifth of all the Blazes de San Diego.

Heartland data date back to April 2021, when the department has updated its file holding system. The older figures were not available due to the switch.

In the past three years and more, most of the possible camp fires – 104 – were in El Cajon, the largest city and host in the County of East, of the largest population not registered among the three municipalities, according to the punctual count from last year. Lemon Grove had 58 while the Mesa recorded 23.

Although Lemon Grove is smaller than its neighbors, the limited resources of the city have long hampered efforts to get people out of the street. (This could soon change since Lemon Grove won a state subsidy of several million dollars to house more than 100 people.)

A death in 2023 was linked to a potential camp fire at the MESA. The files show that the cause remains under survey and more information on the victim has not been immediately available.

Those who live in camps face considerable risks. Judy Scheuer, who started the non-profit hope for the edge of Lake Sans-Abri, said that she knew a woman who had almost burned alive when someone set fire to her tent. “Women are simply vulnerable and victimized.”

All together, possible camp fires burned less than 2 acres, but caused about $ 52,500 in material damage, according to data. The flames were not among the most destructive of the three cities.

Koch, the head of Heartland, congratulated the El Cajon police for having quickly cleared the camps and the MESA domestic program to offer help to people living outside. The application and services were necessary to mitigate the threat, he said.

Homelessness throughout the county has grown up almost every month for years and there is nowhere enough shelters for all those who are looking for it. The county of East has in particular had few available beds, although there are programs that pay rooms in local motels and the county possibly plans to build small cabins for the homeless in Lemon Grove.

East County Transitional Living Center leaders in El Cajon recently declared that their waiting list included 500 families.

The editor Kristen Taketa contributed to this report.

Originally published: April 6, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.