SAN DIEGO — Working for You update August 17, 2023.
Two months ago, neighbors in Mission Valley came to CBS 8 with concerns about a broken chain-link fence on Camino del Rio at the bottom of a canyon. The fear, they said, was that the gaping hole allowed unhoused people access inside the canyon. Residents said it’s a fire risk. CBS 8 helped residents put the pressure on SDG&E to fix the fence and have confirmed that the new fence is made from materials more sturdy than the last.
Original story:
People living in Normal Heights are growing increasingly worried about homeless encampments in the canyons below their homes.
Neighbors say they pose a huge fire risk. The area has seen many fires in the past, including the devastating 1985 fire that destroyed more than 70 homes.
A broken chain-link fence on Camino del Rio in Mission Valley is located at the bottom of a canyon below Normal Heights.
Gerald Schoelen, who has lived in the Normal Heights neighborhood for nearly 30 years, says he and other neighbors are worried about the potential fire risk in the canyons.
“Everybody is fearful of it, and they’re really scared of what’s going on,” said Schoelen.
Schoelen says a gaping hole has been in the fence for several years and it allows the homeless access inside the canyon.
He says he’s been going back and forth with SDG&E and the city for about four years on getting it fixed.
“We don’t want to see that happen again, we don’t want to see firefighters put at risk,” he adds.
Back in 1985, a fire fueled by heavy brush and strong winds raced up the canyons and destroyed a total of 76 homes and damaged nearly 60 others.
Phyllis House-Zepeda, who also lives in the neighborhood, was here in 1985 as the fire came dangerously close to her mother’s house.
“There was a big loss for the people in the neighborhood. We continue to tell the story, we continue to commemorate the date June 30, 1985,” said House-Zepeda.
Phyllis says she has seen people inside the canyons, but believes the fire danger is present with or without homeless people inside the canyons.
The Normal Heights Fire is part of the reason Schoelen says he’s been trying to put pressure on SDG&E and the city to address the gates on both sides of the hill.
In a statement, SDG&E, which has access easements for Major Transmission Lines and High Press Gas lines says it, “Has been made aware of the safety concerns of customers and is in “consultation with the City of San Diego to replace the 3-foot fence with a 6-foot fence further from the property line in the next few weeks.”
The company says that the fence on Camino del Rio South, is located on private property which belongs to the Carmelite Monastery.
CBS 8 reached out to the Monastery but was unable to reach anyone regarding the broken fence.
“The only reason the gate is there is to service the easement for SDG&E to be able to go in there. The church has no need for a gate there,” added Schoelen.
Schoelen says he was contacted by council president Sean Elo-Rivera’s office and was told that SDG&E is now looking to meet with the Monastery, the councilmembers office, and others with the city to discuss repairing the fence on Camino del Rio.
WATCH RELATED: Normal Heights neighbors worried encampments in canyons could pose fire hazard
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