FRESNO (KMJ) — An effort to clear a homeless camp in Fresno Monday morning, temporarily forced local residents out of their homes too after a gas line was ruptured.
“The line that this excavator hit was above the ground,” explains Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims. “So they were removing debris, they weren’t digging underneath the ground. But they hit a riser gas line that was covered with debris.”
The original operation, located near the intersection of Dennett and Lafayette Avenues in West Central Fresno, was placed on pause while PG&E attended the scene to shut off the supply. Once that was complete, the cleanup continued.
“We’ve been working on this project for over a month,” says Sheriff Mims. “We’ve posted notices that this action was going to be taking place. We’ve used social services and the rescue mission to come out and try to find places for the people who still lived here. Some took advantage, some did not.”
Those who were still on site were escorted off, and their belongings placed in storage.
“There are a lot of resources that go in to doing this, but we have to get it right. We can’t go in and do a half-way job and not expect people to come right back into this location. It’s going to be completely cleaned up, and then fenced, so it doesn’t re-establish itself as a homeless camp.”
The area will also be regularly patrolled by Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputies.
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
