Pressure is mounting to abate Davis Park homeless camp

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Pressure is mounting to clear out the sprawling Davis Park homeless camp several miles east of Downtown Anchorage amid growing public safety concerns.

In mid-February, the Anchorage Fire Department responded to a relatively large fire at the camp, located inside the Mountain View neighborhood. At the time, residents said the blaze was one of many wintertime fires.

At the time, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said the administration was monitoring the situation but was not prepared to abate the camp.

“Abatement of this type of entrenched encampment is not as simple as posting a notice — it takes significant alignment of partners and resources,” LaFrance said in a statement to Alaska’s News Source. “In the meantime, the Municipality will continue to work with partners to address short-term public safety challenges in the area.”

But the challenges haven’t stopped. Just a week later, 29-year-old Kikite Leu Fatu was shot and killed in a camper while she slept. The camper is one of many dilapidated vehicles that line the parking lot at Davis Park.

The latest shooting, which occurred on Thursday, left 31-year-old Haily Ibarra dead. Police say Ibarra was shot and killed at Davis Park and have called the incident isolated and don’t believe there is a danger to the public, even though her killer has not been caught.

Mountain View Community Council President Phil Cannon said many people in the neighborhood feel enough is enough. They would like to see the camp abated sooner rather than later.

“The fact that guns are being fired — period — is a problem,” Cannon said. “Bullets flying through the air makes it unsafe, and that happens almost every day.”

Cannon, who is also a pastor at a Mountain View church, said he has typically urged patience. But now, even he feels the camp needs to be abated for the safety of the people who live there but mostly for the neighborhood, which he said has seen an increase in negative activity since the camp has grown.

“A year ago, it wasn’t having the impact in Mountain View that it’s having today,” Cannon said. “But I think when it’s allowed to exist for such a long period of time, then it becomes problematic.”

Cannon said he is hopeful the administration is moving forward with plans to eventually abate the camp.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson from the Mayor’s Office forwarded a comment from LaFrance, who said the municipality is following the situation at the park.

“The Municipality abates encampments on a case-by-case basis,” LaFrance said in the statement. “Davis Park will be abated when resources are in place to ensure the abatement can be effective.”

This story has been updated with a response from LaFrance.

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