Another wondrous side benefit of all the drug-addled transients Mayor Steve Adler and the Austin City Council have lured to the city is the fires they’ve started in their trash-strewn camps. This week saw three separate homeless camp fires, one of which engulfed a historic building:
Three fires broke out at Austin homeless camps over the span of 24 hours. One of those fires spread and burned the historic Buford Tower in Downtown Austin.
The Austin Fire Department said they believe the blaze was arson and are looking for a suspect. AFD said the Thursday night fire started at a nearby homeless camp and drifted to the historic tower.
Friday, city crews were washing away the ashes left behind. No injuries were reported. AFD said the damage was mostly on the outside of the building and windows.
“I lost everything, my entire life,” said Richard Bryant, who lives at the homeless camp. “My sleeping bag, my clothes, my blanket, everything.”
Bryant lives in a now-melted tent at the homeless camp where AFD said the blaze started.
Hours after the April 1 fire broke out at the Buford Tower – a bell tower and landmark that used to serve as a drill tower for the Austin Fire Department – firefighters responded to a separate fire at the State homeless camp on the Bastrop Highway. Damage was reported at four units at the homeless camp, but there were no reported injuries.
Great job @GregCasar and @MayorAdler – homeless camp that YOU CREATED is burning down the Buford Fire Tower
— Austin (@Austin63851537) April 2, 2021
Since the insane decision to repeal the camping ban, Austin hasn’t suffered a really dry summer. Drought conditions and sprawling camps of drug addicts cooking smack among dried-out underbrush is a recipe for disaster.
Mayor Steve Adler regurgitated the same bromides he offers up any time his pet transients trash another part of Austin: Taxpayers need to give the Austin City Council more money to fix the problems they created.
Consider this yet another reason to reinstate the homeless camping ban on May 1st.
Tags: arson, Austin, Austin City Council, Crime, homeless, Steve Adler
As we drove along 360 yesterday my girlfriend and I pondered the same thing: what’s going to happen when the next drought meets our horde of bums? After all the over-grown cedar trees go up like Roman candles, a lot more people are going to be “experiencing homelessness” because their homes have burned to the ground.