St. Paul officials clear encampment on Kellogg, find shelter space for homeless

St. Paul city officials Monday cleared away the people who were living in a homeless encampment on Kellogg Boulevard near downtown.

Outreach volunteers and crews from the St. Paul Fire Department assisted people in packing up tents and cleaning up trash.

Deputy Mayor Jamie Tincher was also on scene, speaking with individuals about shelter spaces that were available for them.

"This is just very dangerous for the individual people in the tents," Tincher said.

With cold temperatures in the forecast for the week, Tincher said city staff had to work quickly to find placements for the nearly 40 people who were living in the encampment.

The added high risk of fire danger was also a driving factor to clear out the tents and the people who were staying there.

St. Paul working through weekend to help shelter more than 300 people as cold advances

A St. Paul Fire Department report shows over 15 fire calls, 25 medical responses and numerous fire hazards at the site since late November.

"We can’t have any more fires here," the deputy mayor said. "We can’t allow the fire hazards to continue and we can’t allow for individuals to be in the circumstances that are just dangerous."

In the last few weeks, the city opened up two emergency shelters – one at Harriet Island Pavilion and the other at Duluth and Case Recreation Center – and are looking forward to an additional 200 beds that will be available in the coming weeks at the now-closed Bethesda Hospital.

"I’m not suggesting that that’s the long-term solution for anyone out here," Tincher said, but added that for their safety, she wants people living in the camp to move inside.

"We have options for indoor, individual rooms for all of the folks that are here," she said. "We’re hoping throughout the course of the day, we get people to take us up on that."