Closed public spaces due to COVID leave fewer options for the homeless to escape smoke
As smoke from wildfires settled across Western Washington on Friday, people living homeless have few options to escape the smoke.
Because of COVID-19 health restrictions, some public spaces that people have sought for refuge in the past — such as the Beacon and Lighthouse Activity Centers in Tacoma and Tacoma Public Library locations — are closed.
The outcome has left some members of the public, like Janet Runbeck, a certified nurse and former lecturer at University of Washington in Tacoma, concerned about the well-being of the most at-risk populations, such as the disabled, people experiencing homelessness and the elderly.
“We have wildfire smoke at dangerous levels that are going to impact people who are already at risk for disease and morbidity,” she said.
As of Friday, the state Department of Ecology and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency rated the air quality in the central Tacoma area as “unhealthy.” People are encouraged to stay inside if they can.
For some, that not an easy thing to do, Runbeck said.
“If you’re prone to asthma or any respiratory problem … now you’re going to be breathing really bad air,” she said. “As a public health nurse I am really afraid that our emergency and hospital systems will see an increase (in workload).”
When asked by email Friday, James Pogue, executive director of homeless services for Comprehensive Life Resources in Tacoma, said he is concerned about the smoke and that the agency is looking for options. Comprehensive Life runs a daytime shelter at the Beacon Center in Tacoma, but it’s only available to people ages 12 to 24. Shelters also are limiting occupants to comply with COVID-19 social distancing requirements.
Megan Snow, spokesperson for the city of Tacoma, said the city is continuing outreach with its homeless outreach team, directing people to services and continuing to provide shelter at its Stability Site and microshelter site in Eastside.
On Friday, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department shared state recommendations for wildfire smoke and COVID-19 during the 2020 wildfire season with the Tacoma-Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness.
“There is concern about the health impacts of wildfire smoke overlapping with COVID-19 because both impact respiratory and immune systems,” the recommendations said. “COVID-19 restrictions limit current public health recommendations to reduce exposure to wildfire smoke and will complicate our public health response.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 1:11 PM.
