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Encampment fires near I-85 in Atlanta cause panic for neighbors
Residents near I-85 report smelling smoke daily from nearby encampments following a large trash fire near the Buford Highway Connector.
ATLANTA - For seven years, Cory Knopp has called the Cedar Chase Condominiums home. For seven years, he's woken up, nearly every day, to the smell of campfires burning near his property.
"We've experienced fires in our neighborhood, behind our property, on the trail, encampments under the bridge, and other locations around us," Knopp told FOX 5.
Knopp and his neighbors live in the Lindridge-Martin Manor neighborhood of Atlanta. The area includes Cheshire Bridge Road and the Buford Highway Connector, both no stranger to fires threatening lives and infrastructure.
Monday's fire near Peachtree Creek
What we know:
On Monday, Aug. 10, crews rushed to Interstate 85 near Peachtree Creek, where smoke billowed onto the highway. Atlanta Fire Rescue says a 50-foot pile of trash at a homeless camp caught fire. Crews quickly extinguished the flames. No one was injured, and the scene was turned over to the Georgia Department of Transportation.
For Knopp, the blaze, only about a mile and a half from his home, was just another reminder of the daily threat the area faces.
"It's like, 'Oh, did you hear about another bridge fire?' and it's like, I can't believe it because you'd think we'd learned our lesson and for some reason we haven't," Knopp said.
Echoes of the 2017 I-85 collapse
The backstory:
Monday's fire was reminiscent of a 2017 blaze that collapsed a section of I-85 and forced crews to rebuild spans in both directions, creating traffic chaos and costing millions. A man accused of setting fire to construction materials stored under the bridge was charged, though those charges were later dropped; a National Transportation Safety Board investigation found GDOT contributed to the disaster by storing the combustible materials under the highway. It took six weeks for transportation officials to replace the damaged sections.
In recent years, Knopp and other residents of the Lindridge-Martin Manor neighborhood have dealt with fires along Cheshire Bridge Road.
"When you have three bridge fires over the last seven years, you'd think someone would get the hint that maybe we should start to secure under the bridges and make sure fires aren't being started," Knopp told FOX 5.
Residents turn to city and state leaders
What they're saying:
Cedar Chase residents have reached out to a long list of representatives at the city and state level. In a statement, state Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Atlanta, called for both the humane treatment of any person who is homeless and the expectation of safety for residents in the area.
Evans also said in part, "the issue is made more complicated by the shared jurisdiction between the city and state." You can read her full statement below:
The risk of fires from homeless encampments is real, scary, and unsafe for all involved. We've seen fires in these areas repeatedly over the years.
The issue is a difficult one because anyone who is homeless is a person deserving of humane treatment, but the residents in the area deserve an expectation of safety in surrounding public spaces too. The issue is made more complicated by the shared jurisdiction between the City and the State. While the pace is slower than I'd like, and I know slower than the residents would like, City and State officials are aware of the issues and in communication on coordinated efforts to address the situation.
Unfortunately real solutions are expensive and complicated. Because we are talking about people with free will and few options on where to live, they return even when the City and State make effort to clear out the encampments and direct people to shelters. Efforts have been made to make these areas less attractive to camping, but the real long-term solution is addressing homelessness and affordable housing.
I look forward to continuing to work with partners at the City and State to address the very real concerns here.
Who enforces the law under the bridges
The area under I-85 bridges is considered a state right-of-way, but GDOT relies on Atlanta Police to enforce Georgia Code Section 32-6-6, which "prohibits anyone from knowingly using GDOT's state rights-of-way for unauthorized camping."
In a statement, the agency says "during the past several years, GDOT, the City of Atlanta, and the Atlanta Police Department have worked together to address illegal camping, the hazard it poses to infrastructure and human life, and human relocation options for the unhoused population." The statement goes on to reference an agreement between the City of Atlanta and GDOT signed in July 2022 that "outlines roles and responsibilities of each." GDOT's full statement, as provided to FOX 5, reads:
Urban camping in state right-of-way is against Georgia law and can present a safety hazard to the traveling public, public infrastructure, as well as to the people who living in these communities. Georgia Code 32-6-6 prohibits anyone from knowingly using GDOT's state rights-of-way for unauthorized camping.
GDOT is not a law enforcement agency and has no ability within its core functions to remove or relocate individuals from state right-of-way. Rather, it is the responsibility of local government and law enforcement to address illegal camping on state right-of-way within their respective jurisdictions. Just as private property owners rely on law enforcement to respond to trespassers, GDOT depends on law enforcement to impose the law, in this case with the removal of those illegally camping on state property.
During the past several years, GDOT, the City of Atlanta, and the Atlanta Police Department have worked together to address illegal camping, the hazard it poses to infrastructure and human life, and human relocation options for the unhoused population. The result of this partnership in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the City of Atlanta and GDOT signed in July 2022 which the outlines roles and responsibilities of each, with the shared goal of safety and welfare of all Georgia citizens.
What we don't know:
FOX 5 Atlanta reached out to the Atlanta Police Department and Atlanta City Council Member Alex Wan, the representative for the district, regarding enforcement plans and encampment solutions. We haven't heard back yet as of Sunday evening.
Officials have not stated if any new inter-agency task force will be created to manage encampment clearance along the highway corridor.
"We just want a solution. We want leaders to take accountability and come up with an actual solution and work with the community," Knopp said.
The Source: This story is based on FOX 5 Atlanta interviews with Cedar Chase resident Cory Knopp; written statements provided to FOX 5 by Georgia state Rep. Stacey Evans and the Georgia Department of Transportation; details from Atlanta Fire Rescue on the Aug. 10 fire; and public records and prior reporting on the 2017 I-85 bridge collapse, including the National Transportation Safety Board investigation.