Four or five armed city police would accompany them. The bucketeer would douse the embers and the police menagerie retreated. Back came the barrel. People reached beneath sweaters and coats for cardboard. Others gathered wood.
Fuel abounds in a gentrified neighborhood where buildings are gutted and rehabbed.
Within two minutes a new fire was started. The homeless couldn't be prevented from having the fires. They just ignored the city's wishes. They ignored them repeatedly. We've learned to hiss at Scrooge, the heartless manager.