Fire at Providence homeless encampment prompts calls for action on housing crisis
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Providence leaders are calling attention to the urgency of the state's housing crisis following a fire at an homeless encampment in the city.
While Southern New England doesn't see a lot of homeless encampment fires, the issue is much more common in other regions of the country.
The Providence City Council's new housing crisis task force met for the first time Wednesday afternoon, just one day after an flames broke out at anencampment in Providence.
"Encampments and people living in their cars, it's not the condition we want people to live in," said Councilwoman Mary Kay Harris, who represents Ward 11.
"I think any encampment is a reminder of life and death situations," said Caitlin Frumerie, head of the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness.
Frumerie told NBC 10 roughly 323 Rhode Islanders are currently living on the street. She is optimistic state and local lawmakers will push affordable housing efforts through, especially at this time of the year.
"Housing is the real answer, housing is the solution, but we're just not there yet," Frumerie said. "We're looking into spring and summer where a lot of the winter facilities are going to be closing down so it's kind of a scary time."
As for the fires, the Providence Mayor's Office said there were seven encampment-related fires in the city in 2022.
When compared to out West, however, the difference is staggering.
KATU, NBC 10's affiliate station in Portland, Oregon, reports the city's Fire and Rescue responded to almost 2,000 fires in homeless communities just last year -- that's more than 40% of all Portland fires.
In Seattle, Washington, KOMO reports there were more than 1,500 encampment-related fires in 2022.
NBC 10 reached out to Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor's office regarding the fire and the steps being taken to help the unhoused, but have not heard back.
NBC 10's Cal Dymowski contributed to this report.