Firefighters, organizations worry about added dangers for homeless during colder months

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — With the coldest months still ahead, and the season already claiming its first victim of the year, concerns are rising among firefighters and organizations that work with the homeless.

The biggest concern is obviously the cold weather but that’s not the only threat. Last week, one person died and another was injured after a tent caught on fire at a homeless camp on east College Street near downtown Louisville.

Nadine Terrell, a Wayside client, and Aaron Jones are part of Wayside Christian Mission’s Samaritan Patrol who have encountered many homeless.

Terrell knew the person who died last week, and often helped him.

"I have fed him from time to time," Terrell said.

"We go out three times a day and try to get homeless off the streets," Jones, Assistant Director at Wayside Christian Mission, said.

Nina Moseley is the Chief Operating Officer at Wayside and said the cold weather always brings added dangers and concerns for the homeless.

"I was and still am very upset and very affected by that because it was it's totally senseless," Moseley said. "And it's not uncommon to pull up to check on the camp, and the tents are all in flames."

After last week’s tragedy, Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill is making a public appeal.

"We want everybody to consider public safety as a job for all Metro Louisville," Chief O'Neill said. "If you happen to live near a vacant structure, you are far more likely to be in danger of a potential fire because those fires and vacant structures, they often times go unnoticed."

And that’s why for the next several months, the Samaritan patrol will be on the move and on the lookout for signs of fires.

"Anybody want to come in at the cold, we'll bring them into the shelter," Jones said.

"All you got to do is look right down on the ground and you can see where the black marks or wood, wood and everything has been here," Terrell said.

Firefighters said the best way to help someone sleeping outside is to offer them a blanket, gloves, hat or a coat but nothing that could be used to start a fire.