Homeless suspected of starting Salinas riverbed fire in Paso Robles

May 4, 2021

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A persons cooking in the Salinas riverbed in Paso Robles is suspected of starting a fire on Monday afternoon.

Shortly after 1 p.m., a 911 caller reported a fire burning south of the Niblick Bridge, according to the Paso Robles Fire Department. Firefighters arrived and found a column of smoke rising from the riverbed.

Initially, firefighters struggled to access the blaze because of thick, overgrown vegetation. Once firefighters established access, they contained the blaze to one third of an acre.

Cal Fire personnel assisted Paso Robles firefighters with extinguishing the blaze.

Fire investigators determined the blaze appeared to originate from an area used for cooking. Authorities did not locate anyone in the area after the fire started.

Separately, goats have been brought into Paso Robles to graze firebreaks in the Salinas riverbed. The goats began grazing on Monday off North River Road. The herd will move south this week, resulting in periodic traffic delays on Wednesday.

 


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Now there’s a newsflash.


I hope someone is guarding the goats or they’ll be cooking them too.


That is a shame. A bigger shame is society’s insistence on referring to this demographic as “homeless”. The core problem is not their lack of housing but their drug and alcohol addiction or mental illness. Trying to resolve a symptom rather than the problem is futile. We should invest in mental health facilities, institutionalize those incapable of caring for themselves and clean up our streets.


Who’s the genius that figured that out?


Here we go again.


You don’t say…..really? If theres a fire in the riverbed bet on a homeless person. Not a lot of kids down there playing w/ matches. Cooking or lighting up after lunch. Send in all the sheep you can find…and play the Rawhide music at night…


“Shocking!” -Said no one ever. And so it begins, kicking off the 2021 river bed fire season.