Watch: Seattle Removes Homeless Man’s ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ Cabin, Gold Mine From Public Park

The City of Seattle has removed a makeshift “ticking time bomb” cabin and a gold mine, built by a homeless man at a public park, but officials fear that it may take years before the area is restored to its normal condition. 

On Wednesday morning, city workers entered the area in Dr. Jose Rizal Park, and removed a treadmill, washing machine, beer kegs and other items from the camp of homeless man Steven Irwin, before leveling out the ground, according to Fox 13. Workers also removed multiple propane heaters and stoves installed by Irwin in the encampment, leading to complaints of fire concerns from the local population. 

“The City’s Unified Care Team was onsite at Jose Rizal Park today to clean an encampment area following SPD engagement at the site,” Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office confirmed to the outlet.

“This man had four kegs of beer. He had at least three propane tanks,” said park steward Craig Thompson. “He had reportedly 40 gallons of gasoline on site. He had a generator. He had a television set. He had a washing machine. There was a great threat of fire at this location. There’s no other way to describe it.”

Irwin was arrested at the encampment this morning. He is facing charges of property destruction and possession of burglary tools in Seattle Municipal Court and is currently being held at the King County Jail.

Dozens of trees have been found uprooted and lying around his camp, and the damage is far worse than what Irwin had previously been arrested for in October.

Last year, Irwin allegedly stole an excavator from a local construction site to remove trees around the area, in hopes to start construction on his jury-rigged campsite, which is about three miles from Seattle’s Space Needle.

“It is going to take years to restore the park,” Thompson told KOMO News. “It is going to take a committed effort. The city has to put a plan together and stick to it.”

The extent of the damage is so bad that officials with the Seattle Parks and Recreation are unsure how much it will cost to repair the area.

“The amount of damage that was done is truly considerable,” Thompson told KOMO news. “We need to have a consistent and accountable approach to this situation because otherwise, the city will lose this park.”

Irwin has repeatedly claimed that he had permission to build the structure in the park, despite the city having to pay $15,000 to repair the damage he had done when he was arrested last year. 

In one section of his encampment, he claimed to be digging for “gold and diamonds.” 

Homeless outreach group We Heart Seattle has attempted to get Irwin off the site since last year, but all of their various attempts have failed. 

Founder and Executive Director of We Heart Seattle, Andrea Suarez, was leading the charge on resolving the situation due to the potential danger Irwin may unintentionally inflict on himself and others, saying that Irwin has no plans to stop building.

Suarez first labeled the illegal renovations Irwin had done at the park a “ticking timebomb” over his unsafe use of “kerosene, propane, and gasoline.”

“I’ve even offered to pay for his first six months of housing, and he said, ‘That’s great. I’m still going to keep my cabin in the woods,’” Suarez told the outlet last week.

Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.