Fatal garage fires a sign of difficulties for homeless people in St. Paul, advocates say

Don Piele leaned on the charred handrail of his porch on St. Paul’s East Side, his eyes wandering to the remains of a fire that killed his brother.

Piele, 65, was raised in the city alongside his brother Frank, who he recalled was a beloved Meals on Wheels volunteer before he fell on hard times.

In recent years, he said, the city’s fortunes have also changed. Signs barring solicitors are posted on homes nearby. Security cameras scan residents’ doors and alleys, and neighbors say that homeless people knock in the middle of the night asking for help. Frank Piele, 63, was one of them.

“He didn’t live here, that’s for sure. I never knew when he’d pop up at the door,” Don Piele said.

Investigators say Frank Piele was living in his brother’s detached garage when a blaze trapped him and 39-year-old David John Orlando inside. Firefighters found Piele and Orlando dead under the structure’s charred remains. Weeks later, another detached garage fire killed a homeless man seeking warmth, marking the city’s third fire death this year.

Such cases alarm St. Paul officials working to help Minnesotans out of homelessness as advocates say challenges persist for cities with a limited number of affordable housing options.

It was just past noon on Feb. 9 when Don Piele was making sandwiches and heard a commotion outside. Overnight temperatures had sunk below zero, and snow blanketed the Twin Cities.

“All of a sudden, bang! Somebody was beating at the front door,” Piele remembered. “They yelled, ‘Your house is on fire!‘”

Investigators say Frank Piele and Orlando were living in Don Piele’s garage when a space heater tipped over, blocking the garage’s service door. Flames scorched the walls and collapsed the roof. The heat seared the handrail on Don Piele’s back porch and billowing smoke was spotted from blocks away.

Don Piele said it’s hard to speak about his brother’s final years and death, though he still smiles when he remembers the good times.

Cities across the nation have struggled with homelessness in recent years, grappling with a steady number of clients and dwindling federal resources.

Twin Cities officials erected fences to limit homeless encampments. Hundreds of homeless people were forced to move in January after two large encampment fires in Minneapolis sent plumes of smoke above the city.

Days later, St. Paul officials closed an encampment that flourished for years near the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary after reports of violence and uncontrolled fires. City workers clearing the area found nearly two dozen discarded propane tanks inside tents filled with cloth, tarp and other flammable materials.

Deputy St. Paul Mayor Jamie Tincher will present a new strategy to help unsheltered people in a March 27 meeting with members of Heading Home Ramsey, a communitywide partnership aiming to end homelessness. Members will discuss a 2024 report that found a lack of money, affordable housing and high staff turnover across the county contribute to longer wait times, shelter stays and racial disparities among homeless residents.

Jamie Smith, deputy chief for the St. Paul Fire Department, said the deaths of Piele and others are tragic — affecting families and also first responders who discover their bodies.

“We are seeing an increase in responses to unsheltered individuals in emergencies, whether it be fire or medical,” Smith said. “Garages are not meant for living. They lack the proper heating, the smoke alarms and other fire safety mechanisms, and they are not inspected and rated for people to live in. The lack of all of these safety measures makes them a death trap.”

Feb. 25 statistics from the city’s Homeless Assistance Response Team (HART) show that officials know of 15 active encampment sites sheltering around 103 people. Three are in the Greater East Side, where Piele and Orlando died, and two are in the North End neighborhood, where the second fatal detached garage fire occurred.

In 2023, most encampments were found in St. Paul parks, while 19% were on private property. That percentage increased to 20% last year, and HART says 25% of encampments so far this year are on private property.

For Jeff Smith, things began to sour in his East Side neighborhood 15 years ago.

Homeless residents wander an eight-block radius in the area, sometimes knocking on doors for help between 2 and 3 a.m. “No soliciting” signs greet many visitors approaching homes on his block. Staff at Hoagie’s Bar, a few blocks from Don Piele’s home, turn away solicitors every day.

Smith has opened his home at times to vulnerable people seeking shelter because many of them have nowhere else to turn for help.

“If you need it, you have to commute to the other side of downtown St. Paul or indoors; there really isn’t any place to go,” Smith said. “There’s no guidance for homeless people. They’re on their own, trust me on that.”

Jack Byers, executive director for the Payne-Phalen Community Council, says many city and local organizations are working to address homelessness. Byers said residents grow more concerned for unsheltered neighbors during cold months, but “unfortunately, it’s become too commonplace.”

“There’s not a lot of housing available, and then what is available is not affordable,” Byers said. “The unhoused population is vulnerable. A lot of times they’re portrayed as criminal, when they’re not. … They’re actually more vulnerable to criminal activity simply because they don’t have four walls and a roof over their head.”

Hundreds of vulnerable people filed into the Dorothy Day Residence on March 7 for food, rest and friends. Keith Kozerski is chief program officer for Catholic Charities, helping to manage the Dorothy Day facility and more than a dozen sites across the Twin Cities. Kozerski says a greater number of unsheltered people need help with chemical abuse, mental health crises and finding resources.

“Especially post-pandemic, we have seen an increased demand and increased acuity in the level of need faced by those who are unsheltered,” Kozerski said, adding that opioids “dramatically” increased the number of overdoses among vulnerable people inside and outside of shelters.

The facility brings permanent housing units to around 177 people, offering free laundry, case management services and a computer lab with sessions teaching people how to craft résumés. The building is connected to an overnight emergency shelter and offices where staff work to connect people with permanent housing.

Staff members say it’s easier to find housing for people who have been homeless for four or more years, depending on their case and conditions, because they’re prioritized above those who have been unsheltered for a year or less.

Kristine Maassen was a nurse for two decades before her husband’s death and a disability forced her to sell all her possessions before losing her home in 2020. She never thought of homeless people before then, but experience taught her how vulnerable the population is.

“When you’re homeless, you don’t have choices. You can’t call up Uber and say, ‘Can you give me a ride?’ But when you haven’t been there, you don’t get it,” said Maassen, 59. “So I don’t hold a lot of people accountable [for their stigmas], but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”