A photo showing city crews cleaning up the Mercer Street encampment in Seattle on Aug. 23, 2023. (KOMO)
City crews remove notorious Seattle encampment after large fires, murder, assaults
SEATTLE (KOMO) — Work began Wednesday morning to dismantle and remove the illegal homeless encampment on Mercer Street in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood.
The encampment was the scene of a huge fire last week that sent a plume of smoke over downtown Seattle.
Neighbors of the encampment have been raising concerns since last year. In March, the body of a 66-year-old woman was found in the encampment. Investigators believe the woman was strangled and her body was left in the encampment for up to four days.
"It's about dang time. I think the fire last week triggered all this," said Tim Slugocki, who works near the encampment. “The city wouldn't do anything about it, you can raise all the alarms in the world but there’s just a lot of inaction by the city. I just wondered how long this was going to go on for, so it’s nice to see action. 100% this is Seattle’s fault.”
Drone video of mercer street encampment
Officials told KOMO News that the encampment crossed property of both the city of Seattle and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).
The encampment is directly next to the Mercerview Apartments, where residents said they have dealt with constant issues, including someone firing a gun from the encampment into an apartment window and a woman who was recorded hitting a man with a hammer in the camp.
“They are causing havoc, they are endangering people’s lives, they are starting fires. They want to be able to do drugs, they want the freedom to be drunk, they want to do whatever they want," said Cameron Scott, a manager at the apartments. “This state gives out things left and right and a lot of people are eligible for them, you just have to be willing to accept them.”