In Highland Park, a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, homeowners are upset following the introduction of an inflatable swimming pool in a local homeless encampment, coupled with clear drug use.

Resident Herb Egge said, “All of this is ludicrous. These people come in and totally trash the place. Someone told me they hooked up a hose and filled a swimming pool with it.” A video from KOMO News shows a woman by the pool, apparently smoking fentanyl.

The pool is seen by residents as an added issue tied to the encampment, which has been a concern for months.

Seattle has recently seen a rise in homelessness and violent crime. A city worker was photographed picking up trash next to graffiti on 4th Avenue on March 9, 2022. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Seniors living in Egge’s apartment complex have reported frequent gunfire from the encampment. Many keep their curtains closed for fear of stray bullets.

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“When I hear the shooting, I stay down and away from the windows,” Cheryl Galyeam told KOMO News.

Egge, who is 72, noted the changing times. “As elderly people, especially, we should not have to worry about our possessions or our lives,” he said. He mentioned his car has been broken into several times since the encampment appeared, and once found a hole drilled into his gas tank.

The encampment, which started with a few RVs, now contains at least 15 vehicles.

A man was killed at the encampment in May, shortly after Arrowhead Gardens apartment residents expressed their safety concerns. The death did not surprise encampment neighbors, who felt anger instead.

Diane Radischat, an Arrowhead Gardens resident, hoped for city action after the death. “We want the solutions, and we know what the problems are. When you’ve had the same problem repeatedly in different locations, you know what needs to be done,” she said.

Radischat received a letter from the Seattle Mayor’s Office, the Washington State Department of Transportation, and the King County Regional Homeless Authority promising a coordinated response to the situation.

However, last month, a bill to allow the City Attorney’s Office to prosecute public drug use cases as a misdemeanor failed in a 5-4 vote in the Seattle City Council.

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