Nickelsville tent city moving to old Lake City fire station

About 70 residents of Nickelsville relocated from the University District on Monday to a former Lake City fire station owned by the city of Seattle.

With snow predicted this weekend, Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith said the city wanted to move quickly to get the residents of the roving homeless camp to a warm, safe place.

They can remain at the old Fire Station 39 for up to six months, while the city works to establish a more permanent site at the former Sunny Jim peanut-butter factory in Sodo. The 6,600-square-foot fire station, vacated when a new station opened next door, has a kitchen and three bathrooms, including a shower, and is surrounded by businesses and a few apartment complexes.

Smith said a letter from the mayor was e-mailed and hand-delivered to neighbors Monday morning. He pointed out that last December, Tent City 3 was located not far from the fire station and found support within the neighborhood.

But Killy Keefe, a member of the Lake City Community Council, said she learned of the camp's arrival only 30 minutes before Smith's noon press conference there. She's worried that with the growing problem of vagrancy and prostitution in the neighborhood, some might see this as an added burden.