For about a decade, Blakeslee Junction, a railroad interchange in Centralia, has been a crossroads for more than just freight.
There, on about 4 acres of land between Interstate 5, Eckerson and Reynolds roads is the Twin Cities’ largest homeless encampment. Three rail lines come and go. People, too. The population, most recently reported at about 25 people, fluctuates frequently.
There’s no official residency paperwork, but “people have indicated that they’ve been there for eight years,” said Gin Pack, captain of the Salvation Army of Lewis County, which runs the county’s only night-by-night shelter in Centralia on Gold Street.
By Sept. 5, with the exact time of day not specified, residents of the encampment must vacate the property. At noon Tuesday, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced a sale agreement in place with Rainier Rail, a Western Washington-based freight line. The people at Blakeslee Junction were notified they must clear out within the one-week deadline.
“Law enforcement will be present leading up to and during the transfer,” wrote WSDOT Southwest Region spokesperson Kelly Hanahan in an email to The Chronicle.
If “that unfortunate event were to occur” where someone chooses not to leave, Hanahan said, “it would be up to Washington State Patrol to escort individuals off the site.”
After residents vacate the property, WSDOT crews will “clear and clean” the site, she said, a process expected to take about two weeks.
Rainier Rail will then become responsible for the property, Hanahan said.
Ahead of the notification to residents, Hanahan said, the state patrol, the City of Centralia and the police department, Lewis County Public Health & Social Services, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, County Commissioner Sean Swope, the Salvation Army and the Riverside Fire Authority have been coordinating.
The Salvation Army will visit the encampment several times in the coming days to provide food, information and “heavy duty” wheeled storage totes and trash bags, Pack said. A list of local providers for recovery and housing services is laminated and taped to each of those tote bags, Pack said.
The shelter at 303 N. Gold St. in Centralia has the capacity for more than 25 people to stay there, Pack said. The process of sweeping Blakeslee would not have begun without the shelter space, Pack added. Currently, she said the building is at about 30 to 35% of its occupant capacity.
“We definitely can accommodate individuals. The goal is to assess their needs, figure out how we can assist them in making that transition,” Pack said. “Many of them may not necessarily want to go to a shelter, but if we can assist them in other practical ways … that’s what we’re going to do.”
Conversations about clearing Blakeslee have been going on for several years.
Gather Church in Centralia runs several humanitarian services for Lewis County including delivery of food boxes, a clothing bank, counseling, child care, a medication-first substance recovery program and various harm reduction programs.
In an October 2022 interview with The Chronicle, Gather Church Pastor Cole Meckle voiced concerns that homeless individuals asked to move wouldn’t head to the night-by-night shelter. Because folks have to pack up their stuff and leave the shelter every day, Meckle worried, many will choose the privacy and personal space of staying outside.
Recent deaths at the encampment and increasing concerns over Blakeslee Junction’s health risks — including an accumulation of untreated human waste due to the lack of any restroom facilities — seem to have “brought things to a head,” said Lewis County Health Office Dr. Joe Wiley in a meeting earlier this month.
Public Health & Social Services Director Meja Handlen this month also said outreach at the camp has recently been met with “an uptick in aggressive persons.”
With all these things together, Wiley this month sent a “fairly strong letter,” as he put it, to WSDOT and the Centralia Police Department asking for movement on the encampment being swept.
Last March, a large fire at the encampment also drew attention of community and local governments. About nine vehicles near the entrance to the encampment hindered firefighters’ ability to respond to the blaze, which prompted WSDOT to have the vehicles towed in the week that followed.
Swope, whose district includes Centralia, asked Wiley this month to declare the site as a health emergency with hopes to expedite the sweep. Wiley opted not to do so because the encampment has not been the site of an infectious disease outbreak, he said.
“This site has been a testament to the resilience and challenges of its residents,” Swope said in a written statement sent to The Chronicle on Tuesday. “Over the past three years, we have unfortunately witnessed an increase in violence and a pervasive struggle with drug addiction amongst its occupants.”
Swope said dedicated service providers have continued to visit the encampment multiple times per week over the last few years, “yet the heart-wrenching reality remains that overdoses are reported almost weekly, with a recent tragedy taking another life just last week.”
He “genuinely hopes” that clearing the encampment will help individuals seek the assistance they need, Swope said, adding, “We are committed to working hand-in-hand with all stakeholders to ensure this transition is as compassionate and supportive as possible.”
When asked what the Salvation Army could use from the community, Pack said support is always appreciated, but at this time, “I just want people to be patient and be the community I know Centralia can be and realize these are individuals who are going through crisis. … That’s the best support we can be right now is just recognizing that these are people in our community, too.”
