SAN FRANCISCO—On Friday, March 26, construction workers found a 20 foot long 3-foot high man-made cave with two men living inside under the Vallejo Bridge. The Vallejo Police Department indicated it was dug into the side of an embankment. The men have not been identified and were not armed.
According to a nearby resident of the area, a construction worker told him the authorities were forcing them out, one man came out willingly and the other man was a little belligerent. Several firefighters, police, and rescue workers collaborated at the bridge. The number of people reached to Sacramento Street and Farragut Avenue, a half-mile north of downtown Vallejo. Residents indicated homeless people have lived in tents off and on at the site for years, but did not know about the existence of the cave.
According to San Francisco City Records, 8,035 homeless individuals were counted in San Francisco’s 2019 point-in-time street and shelter count. This was an increase of more than 14 percent compared to 2017. The federal definition for homelessness point-in-time counts include individuals and families living in a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter, or those with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for regular sleeping accommodations such as cars, parks, abandoned buildings, bus or train stations, airport, or camping grounds.
