Former shelter of woman who sued Vallejo over housing access destroyed in fire

VALLEJO – A shelter previously belonging to an unsheltered woman who won a preliminary injunction against the city of Vallejo to prevent its destruction earlier this year was destroyed in a fire last month, after the woman found housing elsewhere.

Attorney Anthony Prince with the Vallejo Homeless Union said in court filings on Friday that Evelyn Alfred, also known as “Brown Sugar,” recently found stable housing amid her lawsuit against the city for threatening to remove her encampment. Alfred previously lived for years in a shelter made out of tarps and salvaged materials, known for its tidiness as she regularly removed trash and cut overgrown weeds to keep a clean yard. 

But that shelter burned late last month. The city told the Vallejo Sun that the fire took place on Aug. 26 around 2:30 a.m., when firefighters responded to a report of tents on fire at Harbor Way and Mare Island Way. Vallejo fire officials said that firefighters found a structure on fire in the open field and no adjacent properties had damage.

“There is no active investigation and there were no reports of any injuries,” city spokesperson Robert Briseño said in an email. City Attorney Veronica Nebb also said in an email that on Sept. 2, the Public Works Department cleaned up the remaining debris, and the city did not see evidence of arson at the site.

However, Prince said in court filings that he found the fire concerning, accusing the city of failing “to secure as a crime scene or otherwise undertake a criminal investigation of what appears to be an arson fire that completely destroyed Ms. Alfred’s former habitation.” The homeless union requested a copy of the Vallejo Fire Department incident report, he said.

Prince said that, before and after the fire, various people wrote posts on local social media and on SeeClickFix, the city’s website for service requests, containing “derogatory statements against this Court, false and malicious statements about and directed at Ms. Alfred and messages intimating support of violence against Ms. Alfred and her property.” 

He said some messages state appreciation for the fire, and show that some people in Vallejo “may have been conducting physical surveillance of Ms. Alfred and her former habitation.”

“This surveillance intensified when Ms. Alfred began the process of relocating to her new apartment and after the arson fire that destroyed her former habitation,” Prince said. “Even with the surveillance, it would have been difficult for anyone to know for certain whether Ms. Alfred or anyone else was physically present within the structure at the time the fire was set.”

Prince told the court that “Ms. Alfred is now housed in a federally supported apartment in the City of Vallejo.” However, he said that policy changes by the U.S. Department. of Housing and Urban Development could lead to severe reductions in housing assistance under Section 8 and other programs, and that could adversely affect Alfred’s ability to remain housed.

Prince said that while he and the homeless union are gathering more evidence to bring to the city, Alfred isn’t seeking protective orders or other court intervention. 

In February, a federal judge granted Alfred a preliminary injunction ruling that the city could not remove Alfred’s tent, after having granted her a temporary restraining order last year. In her lawsuit, Alfred argued that being evicted would place her in imminent danger, violating Constitutional protections under the 14th Amendment. The judge said Alfred established that “there are serious questions as to her 14th Amendment state-created danger claim” given that the city did not try to connect her with housing and support services. 

Nebb said that the city immediately appealed the preliminary injunction, which is pending before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Due to the preliminary injunction and pending appeal, the City was prevented from removing Ms. Alfred or effectively abating the unsafe conditions at her encampment,” Nebb said.

Responding to Prince’s allegations about the public comments made on the SeeClickFix platform, Nebb said the city does not control or endorse comments made on the site. “The city will consider any evidence received in evaluating any additional action,” she said.