By Karen Pearlman
Photo via San Diego County Sheriff: Homeless encampment fire in Santee, February 2025
March 14, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) -- With an estimated one out of every five fires in San Diego County started in encampments where homeless individuals congregate, San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson has said enough is enough.
“Nobody has a right to burn my constituents’ homes down, whether they intend to or not,” Anderson said, two days after the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to update the county’s Unsafe Camping Ordinance. It would apply to property that the county owns or leases and specified areas such as parks, open space and certain public works facilities.
At their meeting on Tuesday, March 11, the supervisors voted 4-0 to empower appropriate authorities “to ensure public safety and do more than just cite repeat offenders,” Anderson said. A final draft ordinance is expected to be presented by county staff to the board in about two months, when a final vote will take place.
At that time, Supervisors will have options for changing the current ordinance.
One option includes adding provisions related to fire risk; adding protections in specific areas (including open spaces and public works infrastructure); and a notification period of 24 hours for those living in unsheltered encampments, to give them time to move personal property.
Another option is to leave the ordinance as it is, which includes enforcement to prohibit and abate illegal encampments, remove improperly stored property on public property and protect vacant property (such as the San Diego River corridor) from fire and pollution.
Currently there are several existing state and local codes that address fire prohibitions and liabilities due to careless, negligent or intentional acts. These existing codes grant enforcement authority to local law enforcement and/or fire agencies to investigate and hold individuals accountable for unlawful acts as defined in code sections.
As for the role law enforcement and other agencies would play in enforcing the ordinance, Anderson said "We expect the draft ordinance, which will be coming back to the Board in about two months, will contain more detailed information on this piece."
Anderson has been a leader in leading changes in the back country.
He said that passing an Unsafe Camping Ordinance in the county’s unincorporated communities “is a crucial step to protect all residents,” and referenced January’s Center Fire in Rancho Bernardo that burned seven acres.
San Diego's Metro Arson Strike Team reported that the Center Fire, which forced people in homes and those in a daycare center to evacuate, was started in a homeless encampment
Anderson said that more than 1,100 fires in the last 12 months were connected to homeless encampments.
In a staff report related to the ordinance, it was noted that the County has, and would continue to have, a “services-first” approach, with a goal of connecting people with shelter, food and -- where appropriate -- substance use disorder and mental health treatment.
The County’s outreach team -- The Health and Human Services Agency, Parks and Recreation, Public Works and Sheriff’s Office Homeless Assistance Resource Team -- coordinates provision of services and resources including emergency housing to people experiencing homelessness in the unincorporated communities.
The 2024 Point in Time Count identified nearly 200 people experiencing homelessness in the unincorporated county area. (This number captures unsheltered individuals only and does not include 250 households already placed in the County’s emergency housing program.)
The county’s changes to the ordinance are also connected to the June 2024 Supreme Court decision in the case of City of Grants Pass v. Johnson. T which allows local governments to enforce camping bans through citations or arrest regardless of the number of shelter beds open.
The decision overturned Martin v. Boise, a Ninth Circuit case from 2018 that held that individuals could not be cited for sleeping on public property unless they were first offered alternative shelter.
In Grants Pass, the Supreme Court upheld enforcement of local ordinances regulating camping on public property even if no shelter beds were available. Under this new guidance, the county’s existing camping ordinances could be enforced.
While all Supervisors voted for drafting an update to the county’s Unsafe Camping Ordinance, Supervisor Monica Montgomery-Steppe wants to be sure shelter space is available for anyone displaced. The County currently operates no homeless shelters, other than two safe parking areas for unhoused people living in vehicles, though plans are in the works to build sleeping cabins in Lemon Grove.
"We have a moral obligation before we put handcuffs on somebody to say, `We have a place for you to go," Montgomery-Steppe said, ECM news partner 10 News reports.
Asked if there is information on any separation of homeless encampment fires vs. fires started in migrant camps, Anderson said County Fire and CalFire have indicated that “these separate data points are not currently tracked in the unincorporated areas.”
An ECM article last year reported that at least six local fires between May 1 and June 1 were attributed to migrants or smugglers near the border, according to Cal Fire. Those fires ranged in size from less than an acre to 50 acres.