AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Fire Department is investigating a fire which destroyed a homeless couple's tent in Central East Austin on Wednesday afternoon.
According to an AFD spokesperson, someone threw a lit firework from a car, which landed on the pavement by the North I-35 on-ramp near Airport Boulevard and Crestwood Road and caught the grass and tent on fire.
The homeless couple told KVUE the fire destroyed their tent along with their bed and some of their clothes.
"It could have potentially been dangerous for not only us, but for the rest of the neighborhood," said Arlene Page, who has lived at the site for nearly six months.
The AFD spokesperson could not say whether the fire was targeted against the homeless couple, but Page believes it was.
"To see what we have left and be able to kind-of put some stuff back together is helpful, but it's still the fact that there's a hate crime put against you because you're homeless," she said. "It's not fair."
Page told KVUE her camp below the overpass has been a target in the past.
"People have been throwing fireworks, road flares. Somebody fired a bullet into our tent," she said.
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While she understands some people may have concerns over the City's homeless ordinance changes, she said not every homeless person is the same.
"Anyone can become homeless at any given time for any given circumstance. It can be a mental disability, a physical disability or a financial disability," Page said. "I just feel that anyone who's ever seen anyone else in that situation, regardless [of] who may have an addiction, regardless of who may have a disorder, everyone is human. All lives matter."
St. George's Episcopal Church and a passerby donated two new tents for Page and her boyfriend to sleep in, Page said.
Arson investigators are seeking more information about who lit and threw the firework. If you have any information, call Crime Stoppers at 512-472-TIPS.
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