Philadelphia forms new city task force to fight trash fires in Kensington

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The city of Philadelphia has started a new task force to extinguish trash fires in Kensington while also helping the people who start them for warmth find a place to sleep.

Managing Director Adam Thiel, formerly fire commissioner, said the city repurposed a truck used for fighting grass and brush fires to actively patrol Kensington, seeking out people starting fires to keep warm and putting them out before they spread to homes, businesses and schools.

“All fires start small and that’s why it’s important that we are proactive with this Nuisance Fire Task Force putting out fires that are at risk to the Kensington Community,” Thiel said.

In recent years, police say they respond to receive calls about as many as 30 fires a day, said Chief Public Safety Director Adam Geer. He explained cops used their in-car fire extinguishers to put out the fire, and those had to be replaced, so the small fire truck would do the job much more efficiently and even save money.

The current truck is positioned at Engine 28, near Kensington and Lehigh Avenues. Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson said the smaller truck is nimble and travels the streets seeking out the fires.

“They are able to quickly respond to these small fires to extinguish them. Typically, the Philadelphia Fire Department is a response to the organization, but this is a sea change for us,” Thompson said. “We are being proactive, we are actually patrolling the neighborhood to put out these fires as soon as we see them in their incipient stage.”

The task force will also have access to a city sanitation crew to take away any potential fuel people use to restart the fire, and social service workers who will meet with the people who started the fire in the first place, mostly unhoused people, and offer them a warm place to stay without starting a trash fire.

Thiel said this is another step in the continuing effort to improve the quality of life for Kensington residents.

“What we’re doing with this task force. It’s a multi-agency, multi-disciplined task force that is going to be working with individuals who may be starting fires in Kensington,” he said. “To support them and help them find safety, stability and warmth without lighting fires in our community.”

If the effort is successful, it could spread to other parts of the city.