Crews are working to remove several homeless camps along Atlanta highways Thursday.
Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach was on the Buford Spring Connector near Sidney Marcus Thursday, where crews with bulldozers and dump trucks were clearing out trash, tents and debris.
Gehlbach learned that a big camp behind The Dump on Sidney Marcus is also being cleaned up today.
The clean-up effort comes after a fire broke out at a homeless camp under a bridge Wednesday night. The fire started around 8:30 underneath the bridge at the intersection of Piedmont Road and Garson Drive and shut down roads for hours. Georgia Department of Transportation crews inspected the structural integrity of the bridge after firefighters were able to put out the flames and cars were cleared to drive over it again.
Last night’s fire is one of many break out under major Atlanta bridges in the last few years, leaving several bridges damaged and traffic snarled.
A bridge on Cheshire Bridge Road has still not reopened after a fire several months ago that started at a homeless camp.
City officials said that the clean-up effort was not sparked by the fire, but had been planned for weeks.
The Atlanta Police Department said it is working with the Department of Public works on the cleanup effort. The APD Homeless Outreach Proactive Enforcement (HOPE) team is working to provide outreach and resource opportunities to help people living in the camps.
Yesterday, members of the Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative (PAD) offered substance use and mental health supportive services to residents of the camps.
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