近距离内射合集

Digging through blackened debris with a butter knife, a man searched for anything that might have survived a large fire that tore through a homeless encampment along East Central on Monday night.

What he managed to collect was a handful of ash-covered pennies.

The man's tent, along with four others, burned 鈥� the flames torched what few belongings people had left, including documents like birth certificates, clothes and cellphones. No one was injured in the blaze.

That homeless encampment, situated in the parking lot of a used bookstore off Central, has become a microcosm for the city鈥檚 struggles with mounting homelessness and the dilemma of addressing it.

Quirky Books鈥� owner, Gillam Kerley, insists that he鈥檚 helping people who have nowhere else to go, while the city and surrounding business owners say that his approach is enabling drug use and violence.

The people who live there say they鈥檙e doing their best to survive.

David Stone, who has lived on the street for three years, looked on as a handful of volunteers scraped sinewy burnt plastic from the asphalt.

鈥淭his is why I don't keep anything anymore, because it can all be gone in an instant,鈥� Stone said.

Stone described the fire as a 鈥渉uge wall of flame鈥� that quickly engulfed several tents and burned all the way up to the telephone wire overhead. Stone didn鈥檛 know what started the fire. 

Albuquerque Fire Rescue, when asked, didn't know either.

AFR spokesperson Lt. Jason Fejer said a fire truck was dispatched around 9 p.m. Monday and the fire was put out before it could spread to neighboring buildings. Fejer said investigators were unable to determine the cause or whether the fire was intentional or accidental.

The scene was "compromised" before an investigation could be conducted, Fejer said, as people went back to the scene after the fire and before evidence was secured by AFR investigators.

The only known surveillance videos of the incident had no visibility of people within the encampment, Fejer said, meaning that AFR has nothing to build a case on.

If any 鈥渨orkable鈥� evidence surfaces, Fejer said that AFR will do further investigation.

Kerley said he believes the fire was accidental and is relieved no one was hurt.

鈥淚鈥檓 extremely grateful for the people who came out to help,鈥� Kerley said of volunteers who worked to clean the site Tuesday morning.

Kerley said that he will 鈥渕ake changes鈥� for safety after the fire, but is unsure what those changes will be.

His neighbor, Alfredo Barrenechea, believes that the change needed is simple 鈥� shut it down.

Barrenechea owns Absolute Investment Realty, which shares a property line with Quirky, and now, a burnt and warped sheet metal fence.

Though neighbors have repeatedly complained about the site for more than a year, tensions seem to be rising.

In November, police responded to a fatal shooting, making this fire just the latest incident.

鈥淗e ruined this entire neighborhood, single-handedly,鈥� Barrenechea said of Kerley.

Meanwhile, Edward Fitzgerald, another neighbor, stood outside his office watching the scene of devastation directly across the street.

鈥淧eople are trying to help, but how do you help and what鈥檚 effective?鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you really want to help people, this isn鈥檛 helping them.鈥�

The scene he sees every day 鈥� people hunched over and inattentive to the world living in tents without heating or plumbing 鈥� is anything but compassionate, he said.

鈥淚鈥檓 at my breaking point,鈥� Fitzgerald said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like the zombie apocalypse.鈥�

The city also thinks the encampment is unsafe and has been trying to shut it down since November when it asked a judge to declare the property a 鈥減ublic nuisance鈥� due to alleged drug use and criminal activity.

鈥淚t is time for this to come to an end,鈥� said City Attorney Lauren Keefe in a statement forwarded by a city spokesperson Tuesday. 鈥淎 judge has already ruled that Quirky Books is breaking the law. And the situation is becoming increasingly dangerous.鈥�

In response to the fire, Keefe said in the statement that the city is filing another motion in its ongoing lawsuit, demanding that the encampment be closed immediately.

鈥淭here are beds available in the Gateway System right now,鈥� Keefe said. 鈥淭here is no justification for continuing to maintain this unlawful and dangerous encampment.鈥�

There are approximately 1,300 citywide but nearly 3,000 people experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque, according to a recent point-in-time count by the Coalition to End Homelessness.

Still, even in the cold of winter, there are often beds left empty in city shelters. Whatever the reason, be it sobriety requirements, lack of accommodation for pets, or otherwise, something is turning away the majority of people living on the streets.

Stone said, for himself and many homeless people, the city feels like an adversary. And the city coming down so hard on the encampment, the only place where they feel wanted, isn鈥檛 helping.

鈥淚t's illegal to set up a tent in Albuquerque,鈥� Stone said. 鈥淒oesn鈥檛 make any sense to me, it's illegal to survive.鈥�

Gillian Barkhurst is the local government reporter for the Journal. She can be reached at gbarkhurst@abqjournal.com or on Twitter @G_Barkhurst.