12/21/2022
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The Spokesman-Review
KREM
KXLY
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The Spokesman-Review
By Emry Dinman, Garrett Cabeza and Colin Tiernan
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
With dangerously low temperatures in the forecast for the week ahead, no one seeking refuge from the cold will be turned away from the Trent Resource and Assistance Center, Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward said Tuesday.
The National Weather Service predicts temperatures with windchill could reach minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday and minus 23 Thursday as an Arctic front sweeps across the region.
Though more staffing is needed for major increases in extended occupancy of the Salvation Army-managed homeless shelter, a bed or mat will be offered to anyone in need during the inclement weather, Woodward said.
“As (the Salvation Army has) said numerous times, they will not turn anyone away,” she said. “And if there is capacity in any of the other shelters, they will do their due diligence and get people to those beds as well.”
Officers and homeless outreach teams will continue handing out bus passes to get those sleeping on the street to the shelter on East Trent Avenue, Woodward added, as well as broadly informing the homeless of resources available to them.
Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said firefighters will pull over to educate homeless people on shelter options, as well as provide bus passes or other transportation options so they can access housing.
Schaeffer said firefighters have handed out blankets and water in the past, “but this is too much of a critical situation to suggest at all that it’s survivable to be out in this upcoming weather,” he said.
There are no plans to bring buses downtown or to the Camp Hope homeless encampment to transport people to the shelter. Past attempts were ineffective, Woodward said.
“We have had, in the past, (Spokane Transit Authority) buses outside of the encampment, and I can count on one hand how many takers we had,” she said.
There were 271 people staying at the Trent shelter Monday night, down from 332 the night before, said city spokesman Brian Coddington.
Schaeffer said fire and medical calls recently increased, in part because of the cold temperatures.
Some people switched to burning trash, newspapers and combustibles in their fireplaces, which increases carbon monoxide levels in homes and can cause chimney fires, he said.
Schaeffer said residents should keep their chimney clean, burn wood and make sure they have a carbon monoxide detector.
He said others are using potentially dangerous heating sources, like oil lamps and ovens, in lieu of running their costly or broken furnace.
Meanwhile, cold temperatures are worsening some medical problems, like heart and respiratory conditions, leading to more medical calls, he said.
Schaeffer asked that residents check on their neighbors, because there are not enough first responders to reach everyone.
Temperatures this low are rare
Spokane doesn’t experience 15 below often. The city has reached that mark in three out of the last 30 years – 1996, 2004 and 2008.
Since the 1880s, Spokane temperatures have hit minus 15 about once every five years on average. The city has felt 20 below zero just 11 times in the past 140 years, most recently in 2004.
Temperatures that low wreak havoc. In 2008, the last time Spokane thermometers reached minus 15, dozens of homeowners saw their pipes freeze and crack.
Avista set electricity usage records in both 1996 and 2008 as thousands of people cranked up their thermostats. Avista spokeswoman Casey Fielder said the company expects to set a record this week.
Freezing temperatures don’t just damage homes and balloon energy bills.
In 2021, when temperatures never fell below zero, 10 people died in SpokaneCounty due to hypothermia. All of them were unhoused.
Steven Van Horn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane, said it takes less than 30 minutes to get frostbite on exposed skin under the conditions expected Wednesday.
Negative temperatures are most dangerous for the unsheltered, children and elderly.
“This is life-threatening cold and wind chills, no question about that,” said Gerry Bozarth, a mitigation and recovery specialist with Spokane County’s emergency management department.
Kelli Hawkins, the Spokane Regional Health District’s communications manager, encouraged people to stay inside.
“The most important thing is to avoid hypothermia and frostbite,” she said, adding that people should bring their pets indoors, too. “Keep your trips outside brief as possible.” Colin Tiernan can be reached at (509) 459-5039 or at colint@spokesman. com.
Pedestrians make their way across Monroe Street on Tuesday in downtown Spokane.
TYLER TJOMSLAND/ THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
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KREM
(Ed. Note: a GoFundMe account for the medical expenses incurred due to the incident last weekend has been set up with the permission of Bob’s family. Feel free to donate if you can.)
Bob Peeler suffered a fractured skull when police say a homeless man staying in his basement struck him in the head.
SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane man is out of the hospital after being attacked in his home by a man he gave food and shelter to.
Bob Peeler, who recently retired after 42 years at SNAP helping low-income individuals, suffered a fractured skull when police say a homeless man staying in his basement struck him in the head.
“For something like this to happen at the hands of one of the people he was helping for the last six years, it was really shocking,” said Peeler’s daughter, Heather Clark.
Peeler and his wife supported a man named Chad Counts over the last several years. This year, the couple allowed Counts and his dog to stay in their basement in order to escape the cold temperatures.
“It started giving him meals at Christmas and Thanksgiving, we would give him meals at our family dinners and, you know, coffee in the morning,” Clark said.
According to court documents, Counts was "screaming and carrying on" in the basement of Peeler's home on the night of Dec. 16. Peeler and his wife then went down to the basement to ask him to quiet down. Peeler's wife then returned upstairs.
Peeler began going back upstairs but told police he returned when Counts began "cussing him out." When Peeler got down to the basement, he told police all the lights were off.
"Chad had turned the lights out or unscrewed a light bulb to where it was dark," Clark said. "My dad couldn't see anything and he just got hit in the head, knocked out for a minute and then apparently had to have been hit again and, you know, he ended up with a skull fracture. He ended up with some bleeding on his brain."
Counts ran off and Peeler was rushed to Sacred Heart Hospital where he spent one night in the ICU. He was released Monday morning, around the same time Counts was arrested at a Spokane Valley food bank, where Peeler’s other daughter works.
"My papa wants him to get the help he needs, those were his exact words,” Clark said. “He does not represent the homeless community of Spokane, I don't want people to see this and think he's a representation of the homeless in Spokane. Not everybody is violent, not everybody is going to harm you."
Counts is charged with one count of first-degree assault. He remains in the Spokane County Jail on a $25,000 bond. During his first court appearance on Tuesday, Dec. 20, a judge imposed a no contact order between Peeler and Counts.
Counts' arraignment is scheduled for next Thursday, Dec. 29.
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KXLY
Posted: December 20, 2022 7:09 PM Updated: December 20, 2022 7:11 PM byBrontë Sorotsky
SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane is seeing dangerously cold temperatures that won’t let up anytime soon, causing even more urgency to get people out of the cold.
“If you see anyone outside, especially if they’re shuffling or struggling, or they may be down, check on them,” urged Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer.
The Spokane Fire Department constantly has firefighters moving throughout the city, checking on those stuck outside.
“We’re specifically looking to identify vulnerable people and we’ll make contact with them,” Schaeffer said.
The city and county are also getting 350 brand new beds to the Trent Resource and Assistance Center, to get people out of the cold.
Todd Meilke, Chief admin officer for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, says they hope the addition of these beds to TRAC will eventually help clear Camp Hope.
“In a way that we can provide enough beds to decommission Camp Hope eventually. That there’s beds in the system to do that. Not everyone will find that the Tent shelter (is an) ideal situation, so the Trent shelter works with other shelters in the region for housing opportunities for those folks as well,” Meilke said.
At Camp Hope, camp managers are working to get people to warmth, either at TRAC, the Catalyst project, or by keeping the camp warm the best they can.
“The cold weather is motivating people to make some decisions, to go to the TRAC shelter, and to stay warm, as far as the Catalyst is concerned we have an active list of people on the list to go to Catalyst, and we are waiting to get them out of the camp and into catalyst as quickly as Catalyst will see them.”
With the dangerously low temperatures we’re going to see over the next few days, having anyone out in the cold could be life-threatening.