AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin’s mayor is reacting to a KXAN investigation, which found an increase in homeless camp fires during cold weather months over the past five years.
“The best way for us to prevent a fire getting out of hand in the encampment is to reduce the need for the encampment,” Mayor Kirk Watson said.
‘Multiple explosions,’ fires cause homeless camp concerns in Austin
The comments come one day after KXAN investigators reported on concerns voiced by residents of a Tech Ridge apartment complex following at least two different explosions sparked by a nearby homeless camp. The Austin Fire Department reported finding “dozens” of gas tanks in December in an area that already has overgrown, dead brush — while the Texas A&M Forest Service warns of “high-risk” wildfire conditions this spring.
Those fires are among at least 430 linked to homelessness, according to data KXAN requested and analyzed over the past two months.
READ: Austin Homeless Strategies and Operations Plan
The city is focused on increasing the number of emergency shelter beds — with plans to add 650 new ones — as “a key part” of prevention along with improving outreach efforts, Watson said during a sit-down interview with KXAN’s Grace Reader Tuesday…