KIRO 7 investigation gets pile of propane tanks removed from under bridge

SEATTLE — A few days ago people living near the west end of the Magnolia Bridge said they discovered homeless campers living under the bridge had piled up propane tanks against one of the support beams, and near a retaining wall protecting several properties.

Neighbor Elliott Cain compared the situation to Atlanta where a homeless man is now charged with causing a fire that collapsed part of I-85.

“That same stuff is going to happen here in our city,” said Cain adding that he and his neighbors have struggled to draw the city’s attention to immediate public safety issues.  “Sounds compassionate, sounds great not criminalizing homelessness, but we can’t have people doing whatever they want throughout the city.”

KIRO 7 called, emailed and texted several different City of Seattle departments Tuesday to find out who is responsible for addressing the potentially dangerous propane tank situation.  After contacting the Seattle police, SDOT and several other agencies that deal with both illegal dumping and homeless issues— the city came out to the bridge.

An SDOT crew with the help of police took away the tanks.  It turns out there were 26, each with a little bit of propane still inside.  However, since no one was under the bridge when the tanks were removed, the city did not disburse the homeless camp.  KIRO 7 will reach out to the city to find out if the camp will be allowed to remain moving forward.

Cox Media Group