Portland city council bans homeless encampments in "high risk" wildfire areas

People experiencing homelessness in Portland, Oregon, will no longer be able to camp in certain "high risk" areas of the city after the Portland City Council approved new fire safety protocols on Wednesday. The ban aims to lower the risk of accidental fires ignited at homeless encampments amid a devastating wildfire season, local commissioners said. 

"I do not like sweeps, and I do not like that we have a shortage of housing that people can afford to live in," Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who oversees the fire bureau, said at a virtual meeting. "But I cannot stand by and do nothing as people are at risk of dying by fire." Before an encampment is evicted by Portland Homelessness and Urban Camping Impact Reduction Program teams, individuals will be warned of the dangers of settling in fire-prone areas, according to Hardesty's policy director, Derek Bradley. He said that a tracking tool can be used for community members to report encampments that have "a history of problematic fire mitigation efforts."