Coming up next, a big clean out of homeless
encampments near Plaza Bonita Mall.
We have an update tonight from the South Bay.
So what does this heat wave
mean for homeless people?
We're down the South Bay where one
nonprofit has set up cool zones,
hot dry conditions across San Diego
County and not thunderstorms.
More details coming up.
Are you prepared for a fire
in your neighborhood?
Lessons learned from those
who lost everything.
And is Sriracha Sauce discontinued
and gone from stores for good?
We verified CBS8 News Live at six starts now.
The city of Chula Vista brought
in heavy equipment today to
clear out homeless encampments along
a bike path near Plaza Bonita Mall.
Good evening. Thanks for joining us.
I'm Marcella Lee.
I'm Carlo Chicketto.
CBS8 has been working for you
on the situation along the
Sweetwater Riverbed for months now.
Our David Godson talked to the
people on the ground today about
the cleanup and about efforts
to get housing for the people
living in the encampments.
This is the third time in as many
months that CBS8 cameras have
recorded cleanup efforts along a bike
path near the Plaza Bonita Mall,
the Sweetwater Riverbed,
where people have set up
tents and makeshift shelters.
Crosses in and out of Chula Vista,
the County of San Diego,
National City and Caltrans jurisdictions.
The area being bulldozed this time
falls in the city of Chula Vista. This
area, called us and referred to as The
Jungle, has been an issue for some time
now. The city's Homeless Solutions Manager
refers to the riverbed as The Jungle.
And she's quick to point out syringe needles
and crack pipes found in the encampments.
But she tells me the city of Chula
Vista is trying to help those
unhoused people get into shelters.
So what we're trying to do is come in
and give people the resources and the
housing opportunities that we have,
give them an opportunity to take their
belongings, storage or they need it.
And then of course, if they're ready
and open for housing, we are ready.
In May, Chula Vista opened up a brand
new bridge shelter with 65 tiny homes
for those suffering from addiction.
The city turns to the McAlister
Institute to offer substance
abuse treatment and education.
A supervisor on site told me about
30 people who were living in the
riverbed have been offered assistance.
We need more detox beds, you know,
it's like you get a client that comes
in and says he wants to go to detox.
And if you tell them come back tomorrow,
they may never come back.
They might come back a
year from now, two years.
The city of Chula Vista says they'll
be here for at least another week,
clearing out this encampment. Of course,
the problem is as soon as they leave,
the unhoused people move back in and start
setting up shop again in Chula Vista.
David Gotfordson, CBSA.
Temperatures outside they kept
climbing today, especially inland
and in the mountains, but we haven't
seen the worst of it yet. Chief
Meteorologist Carlene Chavis is here
now with today's highs and what's in
store for the rest of the week, Carlene.
More here. It's going to get worse.
It is and that's the thing we're
talking about not being there just yet.
And the worst of it in the two areas that are
under an alert are going to be this weekend.
We've even had an extension when it does
come to that excessive heat warning.
So for today, taking a look at those highs,
we had 109 degrees for Borrego Springs,
also talking about the mid to
upper 90s that was for Escondido,
the scene for Valley Center and for Ramona.
We were in the low 90s today for
Fallbrook as well As for La Mesa.
Now you had the 70s right along
the coast and.
That's because of that marine layer,
rather shallow and also seeing some
hazy sunshine in the afternoon hours.
So that kind of evens out.
The temperature is just a little bit more
keeping things pretty mild along the coast.
So the 70s are going to stick around
for coastal communities and then
we will have more of those 90s
across inland areas by tomorrow,
110 degrees for Borrego Springs,
as mentioned, two areas that are
under an excessive heat warning,
that's the mountains as well.
As for the desert that goes all
the way until 8:00 PM on Monday.
Now with the hottest temperatures
expected this weekend,
upwards of.
Double digit heat across our mountains
and then also talking about 115 to
120 when it comes to the desert.
We'll go ahead and take a look at
your complete forecast and clear
up some confusion for anyone who
has an iPhone and is looking at
that weather coming up.
Carlo.
All right, thanks, Carlene.
And with those temperatures on the rise,
we found one nonprofit in the South
Bay that's focused on helping the
unsheltered population stay cool
during periods of intense heat.
CBS8's Brian White is live in Chula
Vista tonight to explain to us Brian
yeah, I'm here on C St.
in front of Community through Hope.
There a No Barrier dropin
center focused on wraparound
services for unsheltered people.
Now they're closed now,
but earlier they had the whole cool
zone set up here with the tents,
the fans, all of that because while
this heat wave is ramping up,
they want to cool people down. Oh
my God, these people are beautiful, man.
They make our they make
our lives much better.
They treat us with a lot of
respect and we all love coming in.
Mike Perry here singing the
praises of community through Hope,
a nonprofit based in Chula Vista focused
on providing wrap around services to
unsheltered people in the South Bay.
They provide services that are awesome,
food every day,
clothes when you need them, tent.
Anything you ask for helping get services.
On Monday they started Project
Cool Zone here in the parking
lot next to their office,
where people can sit in the
shade under tents with industrial
sized fans to cool them down
South. It's a giant fan,
It's actually normally in our warehouse,
but you can put water in it and
so it actually like slowly mists.
The area as well, which is super helpful.
Sebastian Martinez is executive
director for the nonprofit,
and he says they're making plenty
of refreshments available for
people during this heat wave.
They'll also have access to
spray water bottles, ice packs,
sunscreen, anything that kind of
helps bring down the temperature.
But also why they're here,
they don't have to worry.
About maybe engaging with people that
are fans of and sheltered people.
Every Tuesday they have two mobile
showers set up here for what they
call Project Refresh so people
can clean up and cool down. It's
really popular. It's the only mobile shower
program in the South Bay that's weekly.
So folks kind of plan their schedule around.
Let me go get my shower and then
I'll figure out the rest of my week.
The nonprofit, which doesn't
receive any government funding,
has been operating here on C St.
for nearly five years now.
And with these sweltering
temperatures on the rise this week,
the staff here is focused on
helping anyone who needs it.
It's such a big deal.
I mean, it's hard to get anything
done when you're unsheltered and
trying to deal with being outside.
But having the element of it
being hot and I think trying to
go from one place to another,
it just really kind of brings
people's spirits down.
And so our goal is to lift them up.
If they can get cool and relax,
then they can actually
work on what they need to.
Now they're going to keep their
cool zones up here with the tents,
the fans, the refreshments,
all that for the rest of the summer.
It's not just for this heat wave.
And their hours are Monday
through Friday from 9:30 to 4:00.
Brian, such critical support
for people who are unsheltered.
We know San Diego,
The city of San Diego seen a big jump
in homelessness in the last year.
Are they seeing the same type
of thing in the South Bay?
They are the the last Point in time
count conducted in January for this
year by the Regional Task Force on
Homelessness showed a 54% increase
for the city of Chula Vista here.
And Sebastian tells me that with
the things that are going on,
like that encampment band that
soon to be enforced in San Diego,
they're expecting more of
an influx here to South Bay.
More of a demand
for services like the ones you
showed us in your story, Brian.
Brian White reporting live
for us. Thanks Brian.
San Diego County is offering
you a way to cool down during
this heat with cool zones.
Most libraries and community
rec centers around the county
are considered cool zones.
In the city of San Diego alone,
there are three dozen
libraries you can head to.
It feels good because like when I was out
there, started sweating even
though I was just sitting down
and then I came in here
and so quiet in here. Feels relaxing.
You can read a good book
too while you're in there.
For a full list of cool zones,
you can head to the county
website if you do plan to spend
a lot of time outside peak heat.
Hours are from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM,
so try to avoid those particular hours.
Make sure to constantly drink
water and wear your sunscreen.
A statewide campaign kicked
off today to raise awareness
about extreme heat.
The website, called Heat Ready ca.com,
helps people find cooling areas like the
ones we just showed you in their area.
As our Morgan Reiner tells us,
the site also has tips on how
to stay hydrated and healthy.
It's a two year, $20 million campaign focused
on groups of people at the highest risk,
like individuals with disabilities
or those 65 and older.
One of the first things Sherry
Raceler noticed when she visited
the state's new website,
Good Color Contrast as well.
Raceler is the executive director
of the Society for the Blind.
She says people with disabilities are
disproportionately impacted by extreme heat.
People who are blind in low vision,
they're going to need to rely on most
likely public transportation or.
Ride service and again,
oftentimes you're waiting
outside for those rides and so
it can become very dangerous.
A lot of the bus stops aren't
covered with shade producing cover.
The website helps people create
an emergency plan and locate
resources in their area.
But the campaign as a whole does more,
including partnering with 100
organizations across the state to go
out into the vulnerable communities.
And better prepare them.
I think anytime there is
an extreme weather event,
there is absolutely that risk
that people are going to be
so unsafe outdoors that they
that they end up dying,
whether that's from dehydration
or heat exhaustion,
and not being able to get
anywhere to where they can cool
down or get hydrated again.
Angela Hassle with the homeless
services organization says outreach
is crucial because many don't
have access to the Internet.
Any awareness that we can raise
around the way that this type
of weather affects folks is is
going to have a positive impact.
I think sometimes things like
information about the cooling centers
and when they when they come online,
sometimes our guests are the folks
that are the last to hear about
it because they don't have access
to all of that technology. Right
now there are websites in both
English and Spanish. There will
soon be more in Asian languages.
Thank you, Morgan, Former San
Diego Mayor Kevin Faulkner says.
He's running for the county
Board of Supervisors.
Faulkner announced to on his Twitter
handle this morning that he will
challenge District 3 Supervisor
Tara Lawson Reimer for her her
seat in next year's elections.
The district covers much
of the county's coast,
starting just north of Imperial Beach,
running all the way up through Carlsbad.
Faulkner is taking aim at
homelessness as an issue,
citing his record as mayor
for the city of San Diego.
Saying he made significant
progress reducing homelessness
during his time in office,
the San Diego Veterans Parade is
back this year after a three-year
pause because of the pandemic
event. Organizers say the goal is
to make it the biggest of veteran's
day parade on the West Coast.
It's set to take place along the
waterfront downtown on November 12th.
There will be floats and bands,
but the events main purpose is to
honor the sacrifices of our veterans.
You can find more information
on our website cbs8.com.
Still ahead A former Charles
Manson follower is free from prison
tonight. But first,
our bracing for the burn coverage
continues with a cautionary tale.
A local woman who lost everything in
the 2003 Cedar Fire tells you what to
do if you're ever forced to evacuate.