SPOKANE, Wash. — The city of Spokane's fire marshal requested the state to step in and remove a large cooling tent at the growing homeless camp off I-90 and Freya. The deadline to have it removed was 9 a.m. Monday morning. As of Tuesday morning, however, the tent is still up.
So now, the city of Spokane, the state of Washington and community partners are now trying to figure out how to keep people safe and do so legally. In the time that the cooling tent has been up, it has caused a stir with city officials. The tent has been sitting on Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) land since last Wednesday, at the start of the heat wave.
On Friday, the city submitted a notice of violation to WSDOT. After the Spokane fire marshal's official review of the tent, the city wanted authorities to remove the tent to prevent possible future injuries.
As of Tuesday morning, the tent still stands.
Jewels Helping Hands operates the tent. Organizer Julie Garcia said it saves lives and won’t be coming down early. A dump truck was at the homeless encampment on Monday morning ready to remove the tent, but Garcia said she came in her pajamas to try and calm down residents and assure them the tent wasn't going anywhere.
"There's 600 people out here. They have no electricity. No water. This is all that's keeping them alive out here," said Garcia
Empire Health Foundation gave Jewels Helping Hands a $21,000 grant to set up the tent. Empire’s president Zeke Smith said the tent is a temporary solution to a greater issue.
"The cooling shelter is a short-term solution... it's an important band-aid in the context of weather and time but what we really need is a broader solution," Smith said.
Because Empire Health gave Jewels the money to put the tent up, Smith said it's up to Jewels on whether or not it comes down. Garcia plans to keep the tent up through Thursday per her 10-day agreement with WSDOT.
The city told WSDOT it could be fined $536 dollars every day the tent is left up after its request to take it down. WSDOT said they have not received a fine as of Monday.
City spokesperson Brian Coddington told KREM 2 the city is looking to have a conversation with WSDOT before taking action.
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