In early September of this year, the Fargo City Commission passed an ordinance banning camping on public property in an attempt to curb the amount of homeless encampments currently along the Red River. The ordinance was met with some opposition, as no other places have been provided for the people currently camping to stay. Camping is temporarily allowed with some restrictions, like that camps cannot be within 100 feet of “critical infrastructure” like bridges or city buildings, and they must be at least 30 feet from any public pathway. This made most of the existing encampments illegal, like the one underneath 1st Avenue Bridge downtown, where some had taken to staying under the bridge for shelter from the elements. The city moved forward with clearing out several of the encampments in September, providing residents with 48 hours to move or have their belongings held by the city for 60 days, charged with an infraction, and fined up to $1,000. 

On Oct. 25, firefighters responded to an unattended fire that had spread through an existing encampment. They say they have responded to four fires in the camps already, three of which were illegal. The Fire Department requested that the camps be removed and suggested that police enforce the camping bans more strictly. The morning of Oct. 30, crews from the city with bulldozers and several police officers cleared any remains of the encampment underneath the Veterans’ Bridge between Fargo and Moorhead. Residents were given notice to move, but due to rain the night before many slept under the bridge and hauled their belongings out in carts and bags that morning. With homeless shelters at full capacity and no other free housing available, many residents complied peacefully with law enforcement to leave the camp but now don’t know where to stay. One former camper said that she didn’t have anything to say about the situation other than “This sucks.” The city workers at the scene declined to comment.