ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Open-Door Policy

If the Santa Ana winds clear the horizon on crisp November nights, they also clarify the predicament of the homeless in Orange County.

An abandoned warehouse in Anaheim went up in flames that were fueled by winds. The blaze, which threatened nearby homes, began after a group of homeless people huddled around a fire to keep warm. Although our southern clime may provide relatively warm fall and winter days, for those who must live on the streets it still can get cold at night.

Efforts to ease the plight of the county’s thousands of homeless in recent years have met with only modest success. The Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force, which coordinated agencies and brought attention to homelessness, has been hampered by lack of staff and money. The county needs to do better.

The guidelines for opening two National Guard armories, with their 250 beds, are of little help when it gets cold. The National Weather Service said it was 45 degrees on the night of the Anaheim fire, but it certainly felt colder than that in some parts of the county.

Even a sub-40-degree official reading, which normally would open the armories in winter, wouldn’t have helped; financial pressures have forced an agreement with the state whereby the armories will not open until December.

Somehow the money must be found. The warehouse fire in Anaheim signaled that for too many of the county’s homeless, winter’s chill won’t wait for its appointed time on the calendar.