Squatter House Fire
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Seeking Warmth, Squatters Ignite House Fire Near Ship Canal Bridge

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Squatter City

#Seattle‘s Wallingford neighborhood has 5 houses on same street w/homeless people staying w/out permission. Many are breaking in from @WSDOT‘s Ship Canal Encampment. Once again @weheartseattle is back trying to help. Dropping FULL STORY this week.

Following Up

@KC_RHA says outreach workers are checking in on campers at @WSDOT‘s Ship Canal encampment. But right now, even the house squatters say @weheartseattle volunteers are only ones trying to help them find other options.

Update

Saturday morning, neighbors in Wallingford say SQUATTERS from @WSDOT‘s Ship Canal Bridge encampment started a fire inside a house on 5th Ave NE. Today, the squatters came back. But neighbors MOBILIZED and had a message for them. Now the house is boarded up.

Saturday’s Fire

Neighbors say homeless living under @WSDOT‘s Ship Canal Bridge have broken into 6 empty homes on this SAME STREET. Still NO ACTION by city or state.

911 Was Called About Squatters

But this evening, neighbors say they are still waiting for #Seattle police to show. If you don’t know already, SPD remains down officers and calls like these are not considered “priority 1,” like a shooting or murder.

Jonathan Choe

Journalist and Senior Fellow, Center on Wealth and Poverty
Jonathan Choe is a journalist and Senior Fellow with Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth and Poverty, covering homelessness issues for its Fix Homelessness initiative. Prior to joining Discovery, Choe spent several years as one of the lead reporters at KOMO-TV, consistently the top rated television station in Seattle. His in depth stories on crime and deep dive investigations into the homeless crisis led to measurable results in the community, including changes in public policy. Choe has more than two decades of experience in television news behind the scenes and in front of the camera for ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, and Tribune. He has also been nominated and honored with multiple industry awards including an Emmy. Choe spent several years teaching classes on emerging media and entrepreneurship to under privileged youth in inner city Chicago. As an independent journalist, Choe also contributes regularly to the Mill Creek View and Lynnwood Times and has reported on exclusive stories in the past year for Daily Wire and The Postmillennial.