Alderman Nugent calls for immediate closure of Legion Park encampment following recent tent fire

by BRIAN NADIG

Alderman Samantha Nugent (39th) is calling for the immediate closure of the homeless encampment at Legion Park following a Nov. 18 fire that destroyed one of the tents.

The city’s current plan calls for the tents to be removed by the end of March.

“Around noon today, a tent in Legion Park exploded. Odors and smoke filled the area immediately around the park. Unsure of the source of the fire, residents gathered their pets and evacuated their homes, looking for safety.

“Neighbors saw (two) encampment residents … run from the tent. They attempted to reenter the tent but were forced away by another wave of fire,” Nugent wrote in a letter to city and Chicago Park District officials.

Nugent added, “The fire involved a tent, plywood and pallets. There was a propane tank noted at the site, and no injuries were reported.”

The individuals living in the tent reportedly returned later in the day and set up a new one.

A resident of the 5700 block of North Jersey Avenue reported that her house vibrated as a result of the explosion. She said that the fact that it had been raining and the leaves and ground were wet may have prevented the fire from spreading to nearby tents.

Homes on Jersey back up to the park, where there is no alley separating the houses from the park, whose address is 3103 W. Peterson Ave.

Earlier this year homeless individuals were living in wooden structures along the park’s river embankment, but the city had the structures removed following a series of fires and due to the difficulty of Chicago Fire Department hoses reaching the embankment. The park district has been allowing tents to remain in other areas of the park.

An area homeowner said that there is up to around 25 people living in the park but that there are many more tents, as some individuals appear to have more than one. The tents are split into two main groupings, “south and north camps,” the resident said.

“As the weather gets colder, we can only expect more fires as residents are forced to use heat sources in flammable tents to stay warm. CFD are also concerned about the possibility of frozen hydrants in winter.

For a house fire, they know they can always use the next hydrant 150 feet over, but when the fire is already hundreds of yards from the nearest hydrant, this makes all the difference,” Nugent said.

She added that the problem is being “exacerbated” by organizations which ask for donations of “propane heaters and tanks” and then distribute them at the camps.

“This situation is untenable. We must close this encampment immediately. Residents cannot wait another five months for residents of the encampment to ‘hopefully’ accept housing and leave the park. We must find housing for these residents now,” Nugent said.

City officials announced a few weeks ago that during the first quarter of 2026 efforts to find shelters or housing for the Legion Park tent occupants would be intensified, with the goal of closing the camps by the end of the first quarter of next year. They also said that tents would not be allowed to return to Legion.

At a Nov. 19 meeting of the park district board of commissioners, some housing advocates criticized the city’s plans to close the encampment and also called on the city to allow tents to move back to Gompers Park, 4222 W. Foster Ave., once the construction is completed on the park’s south end, commonly referred to as “Little Gompers.”

One advocate referred to the forced closing of an encampment as “cruel and unusual punishment,” adding that those living in these parks are part of “our community.”

The tents at Gompers were relocated earlier this year to the Eugene Field Annex park, 5151 N. Pulaski Road, where electrical access is being provided to the encampment’s occupants. In addition, those living at Field reportedly are being allowed access at designated times to the showers at Gompers.
At the park board’s meeting, some housing advocates criticized the recent placement of a mobile Police Observation Camera at the Field encampment.

The park district agreed to the placement of the camera following reports of car break-ins at an adjacent skilled nursing facility, according to Nugent’s office. The camera had been placed in a parking lot at Gompers, but an existing POD camera near the Foster-Pulaski intersection already covers that area, the alderman’s office said.

On Nov. 16 at the Field encampment, a woman reported that another woman attacked her with a metal pipe, according to Chicago police.

The woman reported being struck in the head and losing consciousness for a few minutes, police said.
She was later transported to an area hospital for treatment of her injuries, police said. The incident reportedly started after the injured woman had gone into the other woman’s tent to retrieve her smoking pipe.

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