Venice Beach Neighbors Concerned Over Boardwalk Fire, Homeless

VENICE, CA — Neighbors in Venice are worried about several recent fires at homeless encampments in the area, including one at the beach boardwalk this week and another late Thursday night outside Penmar Golf Course.

Another fire broke out in Venice in the 1800 block of Rose Avenue late Thursday night, at a vehicle just outside Penmar Golf Club, the site of another fire earlier this week. The vehicle was charred and destroyed.

Locals are worried someone could get hurt.

Alex Poe lives in Venice and told Patch they reached out to city officials in an email, voicing concern over the fire that broke out at a homeless encampment on the Venice Beach boardwalk early Thursday about 9:35 a.m. in the 300 block of Ocean Font Walk, near Rose Avenue.

"I was walking my dog on the Venice Boardwalk this morning when I noticed smoke and a fire truck down at the tented encampment on Rose and Ocean Front Walk," Poe told Patch.

Poe is worried about safety as people live on the streets during the pandemic and wants to local politicians to do something. It's a problem the community felt long before the virus, they told Patch.

Video from the scene Thursday shows flames engulfing a tent area and smoke billowing from the location where people walk and jog daily.

Fire on Beach (#Venice, #LosAngeles) Live on @CitizenAppLA https://t.co/uPf0lIoOtv
— Double Deelite (@doubledeelite7) September 17, 2020

Several fires have broken out at homeless encampments in Venice, including several recent fires along Rose Avenue, near Penmar Golf Course. A fire broke out at a homeless encampment outside Penmar Golf Course in Venice Monday morning in the 900 block of Rose Avenue.

Video shows flames engulfing a camp with a large plume of smoke billowing above the trees and neighborhood. It's unclear how the fire started.

Local John Ryan shared an image of the fire with Patch. Ryan says this is the third fire at the location this month.

A petition this spring is pushing to prohibit camping along the area and instead convert it to an accessible walkway. The Rose-Penmar Beautification & Safety Project hopes to "move the jurisdiction of the public walk path on the South Side of Penmar golf course to the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department. Once the strip of land’s jurisdiction is changed, it becomes park land and illegal to camp upon. Our community has the right to live in a safe, violence & drug-free neighborhood. "

There's an ongoing debate about access to the area. The group hopes to the city will give the land back to Recreation & Parks to manage the walkway area.

Residents have shared how they feel about the recent fires on Twitter:

4th fire in a week in homeless camps in Venice..is something going to be done before there is loss of life ? Penmar Park golf course, golds gym area, and Ocean front walk pic.twitter.com/1VliCAHTVg
— Travis (@travs8888) September 18, 2020

My inbox is flooded with emails from upset neighbors after a fire in the encampment that lines Rose Avenue outside the Penmar Golf Course in Venice.

"These people need to be housed now!" one writes. They've been warning about fire hazards for months. pic.twitter.com/ao5Z4qXmq8
— Kate Cagle (@KateCagle) September 14, 2020

These naturally occurring forest fires in Venice Beach near massive homeless encampments have got to stop! pic.twitter.com/PewEARw3QU
— Josh Lekach (@JoshLekach) September 14, 2020

Here's what the aftermath of fire danger looks like in #Boninville aka #venicebeach @MikeBoninLA @CityAttorneyLA @LAFDChief @LAPDChiefMoore @LAVagrants @JoeBiden @johnandkenshow @LarryOConnor @NBCLA @FOXLA @SpecNews1SoCal #DefundBonin pic.twitter.com/iikjQDjwYk
— LifeinVenice (@VeniceLifein) September 18, 2020

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