Manchester Flattens, Clears Canal Street Homeless Encampment

MANCHESTER, NH — Manchester DPW workers arrived Saturday to flatten and remove the homeless encampment under the Amoskeag Bridge just hours after the eviction deadline passed.

The city of Manchester took a dramatic change in position on the homeless encampment after a fire and reported explosions late Wednesday night. The fire damaged tents and surrounding items but did not injure anyone in the encampment.

Manchester Fire Chief Goonan said he had to take steps to prevent injury to other people and that it has become a public safety issue.

Notices were posted late Thursday evening giving the occupants of the camp until 5 p.m. Friday to remove any items or the city would remove the items. At 7 a.m. on Saturday, the city arrived to clear the area.

The city took steps to have members of the Manchester Fire Outreach Team available as well as members of Manchester Mental Health and Families in Transition. It also provided plastic totes for those who wanted to store items for 30 days but as of late Friday, only one person had chosen to put things in storage bins.

Occupants of the camp were advised that beds were available at the Families In Transition shelter if they wished to move inside, but many who remained Friday night relocated to other makeshift camps. Several vehicles were seen bringing items to an area known as “the firestone camp” off Elm Street.

Chief Goonan told the Union Leader, "Outreach workers and the city highway department are storing tents and personal belongings for the people who have been staying under the bridge, Goonan said. He said no tents or property would be destroyed to clear the camp.”

Contrary to Chief Goonan’s statement DPW arrived with front loaders, backhoes, and several dump trucks. Items were crushed and then loaded into dump trucks and taken to the DPW. Several propane tanks were pulled from the rubble and safely removed from the site by DPW workers.

Watch as DPW workers removed the encampment Saturday morning

One resident of the encampment failed to leave Friday and was still onsite Saturday morning. He made pleas to have someone rent him a pick-up or U-Haul truck to take several piles of his belongings.

Although it was well past the deadline DPW provided two totes for him, but it fell short of space for the multiple items he had. At 9:30 a.m. the entire encampment was cleared except his belongings when someone arrived with a U-Haul truck.

DPW workers waited and MPD Officers stood by as the final piles of his belongings were loaded into the truck. He indicated he did not want to go to the shelter, he preferred to live outside and will move to the Firestone encampment.

On Friday, a few advocates for the homeless residents arrived with personal vehicles to assist in moving items. There were no protestors at the encampment like there was at the Hillsborough County Court encampment.

At the courthouse, Mayor Joyce Craig criticized the state for being inhumane in removing the camp and destroying the belongings. In the courthouse removal, the state gave several weeks notice to the homeless residents to remove their belongings. In the Amoskeag encampment due to the fire and explosion, only 24 hours of notice was given.

The city has faced an influx of homeless residents as more than 30 camps have been set up around the city of Manchester. In December 2020, 3 people died in homeless camps in Manchester. One of the deaths was a result of a fire and explosion in a camp on Willow Street.

As of 10:30 a.m., the encampment at Amoskeag Bridge was cleared of all items. DPW advised there will be fencing erected securing the area from people moving back into the area.

Saturday morning it appeared that five or six additional tents had been set up at the Firestone Camp and people were moving items into the tents, and structures they had built.

©Jeffrey Hastings www.frameofmindphoto.com/news