With the temperatures beginning to cool down and colder weather approaching, city officials urge the public to report any vagrants they might witness entering an abandoned or vacant structure. Many accidental fires are started by vagrants inside such properties to keep warm in the colder temperatures.
Fire Chief Ricky Harris said his department has already responded to a few fire calls that he believes originated by vagrants. Such an issue became a big problem last winter season when a handful of properties were lost due to accidental fires started by vagrants.
“If you see any strange activities in your neighborhood, please call the police department,” Harris said. “We had an incident last weekend with homeless people starting fires.”
Alderman Jammie McCoy also urged Police Chief Terry Gann to handle the situation as the colder months approach. He personally experienced such a case when he checked on a vacant property owned by an acquaintance who is serving in the military.
“Vagrants were in it, and they were staying in there,” McCoy said. “They had clothes all in there. And there is a fireplace in the home that neighbors told me, when it got cool, they saw smoke coming out of it. They had clearly broken into the house. There are no utilities on at the house either. They were burning old clothes in the fireplace to keep warm.”
Gann said there have been incidents when property owners have given a person permission to be within their property, which sometimes poses a problem within enforcement.
“But if it is obvious that the property is an abandoned home or that nobody is supposed to be there, we do run them off,” Gann said. “We actually made an arrest on one recently; and especially, if it is a repeat offender who keeps doing it.”
The Yazoo Herald published a story last August, exploring the connection with vagrants and property fires. Yazoo City citizens and business owners said they were concerned over the growing number of vagrants and homeless people within the community. Although vagrancy and homelessness has always been an issue within the city, many reported seeing a recent influx.
Among one of the issues that is associated with the problem, there was a growing concern over the increase in fires of many of the city’s abandoned and dilapidated properties. In some cases, if not most, the fires were started by accident or on purpose by many of the community’s vagrants.
Fire Marshal Kenneth Washington told The Herald arson cases can be difficult to investigate when it comes to vagrants frequenting abandoned properties.
“The investigation might start out as an arson investigation, but there has to be proof that the fire was started on purpose,” Washington said. “In situations where vagrants are inside the properties, there must be a witness who saw the vagrant purposely start a fire. That would be considered arson. In situations where a vagrant started a fire for whatever reason, if the fire gets out of their control, it is considered accidental, not intentional. That is the tricky part of investigating these fires as arson.”
Citizens are urged to contact the police department at 662-746-1131 if they notice vagrants occupying abandoned or vacant structures.
