# Fire destroys train station



## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Always sad to see such things happen. And it was going to be restored too!

http://www.firehouse.com/video/1228...1222005&rdx.ident[pull]=omeda|6445J2902823H4A


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

That looks even worse than the recent fire in the San Beattadaise staion.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Probably accidently by homeless people trying to keep warm. Here in St Louis we have had a few building fires started by homeless people in the last week. Happens every year when it gets cold. I don't know why they just do not go to the shelters. They try to have a fire indoors and probably on wood floors.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

mopac said:


> They try to have a fire indoors and probably on wood floors.


Makes you wonder if part of the reason they're homeless is because they're not smart enough to know that wood burns! :sly:


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## OldGearGuy (Mar 20, 2016)

"I don't know why they just do not go to the shelters"..

Easy to say or ask from the comfort of ones home, when you have one that is, but truth is not everyone has it easy out there, not everyone is mentally nor financially stable. and not everyone is cut out for staying even one night in a shelter either. 

There are quite a few reasons why homeless people don't go to the shelters.

Here's just a few;

Many shelters nationwide are already overcrowded and refuse to admit anymore people in.

Many people are in need of a shelter due many reasons, work/financial loss, illegals who have yet to set up a spot to permanently stay, ex-cons with nowhere else to go, divorced guys who've lost everything to a gold digger who hired a better lawyer, etc..

Many shelters themselves are highly unsafe!, 
Being mugged, robbed, stabbed, shot, raped and killed does actually happen in many shelters on basically a daily basis inside of every single one that is in any major US city, and many do not have, nor receive funding for any type of proper (REAL) security to prevent such occurrences and much of what goes on inside of them stays inside of them and goes unreported, especially whenever it comes to any major city or state own/run facilities.
Cities/States always want bad press swept under the carpet as quickly as possible, especially around election times and many shelter "guests" also tend to be too embarrassed to report the crimes or aren't even listened to by the cops who really just don't care and might only show up after a dozen or so hours (or days) because they were finally "dispatched"! 
Cops (at least where I live) NEVER want to do their job and never want to have to write up any more paperwork, ever! 
It may involve too much thinking and spelling and could possibly take too much party time out of their daily "wall of blue frat party" routine.
(I'm my own source for that well known info, seeing how half my family and relatives are all NYPD cops!)

Many homeless people wish to be out on their own and not confined inside a shelter..

Many homeless people tend to be mentally broken and dislike being around any other people and society.

Many shelters have check-in deadline times and if you get to one after it's allotted time to check in period than you DON'T get in at all.

And most do NOT allow alcohol or drug use on their premises, which turns off most addicted homeless people from going to them.

Not to mention that most shelters are filthy, unkept, dilapidated and are infested with bed-bugs, roaches, vermin and god only knows what communicable diseases.

I live in one of the five boroughs of New York City where we no longer even have any shelter of any kind anymore, closest thing we have is just ONE remaining 8-am til 3-pm church run breakfast/lunch soup kitchen, and that is way across town, so you'd have to travel to the nearest stay-overnight shelter, which is way up in uptown Manhattan and is an at least 2-3 hours from my area by public transportation to get to, or go to the one that is even further away up in The Bronx.

And I kinda doubt many homeless people would even have the $3 Bus fare and $3 subway fare to get to either overnight shelter.
Yep, fares are $3 here in the city!
And If they did even have the $6, they'd most likely just spend it on another bottle.

I have one famous person turned homeless hobo example for you; 
Ever heard of "J.R. Richards"?
Well, he was a fireballing pitcher for the Houston Astros back in the 1970's, he was becoming quite the strikeout king and set many team and league records, til he unfortunately suffered a debilitating stroke due to a blood clot while he was warming up for a game back in July of 1980, his career was over at only age 30!.

He hung around the minors for a season or two, went through two divorces and a few bad business investments and eventually went broke, lost his house, cars and everything by the late 80's, and after he refused help from anyone he lived under a highway overpass just a few hundred feet from the Houston Astrodome where he was once a star from the day he went broke. 

He remained homeless up until just a few years ago when he allegedly "found god" and became a "christian minister".

Great for him, sad that not all homeless people can ever turn their lives around.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I am very aware of J R Richards. And many other athletes that have suffered sudden
end to their career. Its got to be tough. Life is tough for many people.

I am also aware that homeless people have problems. I was homeless for almost 2 years. Mine was more by choice. Mine was more about the old hobo world. Freedom.

You can only help people so much. They are adults, you can not make them do anything. They have to have a little desire. That's what helped me. But I know many
do not have the desire. Hard to help them and I do not have the answers. Mental health
is a big problem in America. And you can not make people get help. And drugs is a big problem. Most of our homeless here are addicts. Again hard to help.

You do not need to teach me about homeless people. Its a tough world on or off the streets. I was lucky. Yes,I was on the streets of Houston. Winters are not bad there.
Much worse here or further north. They need to make it to California and florida.
Oh, many are already there.

Curing homelessness ( is that a word) is about as easy as curing cancer. What do you do with them? I don't have a clue.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I want to add I slept under many overpasses. Maybe the same one J R Richards did.
Its not the worst thing in the world. It may not appeal to many of us or even me now.
I was with the homeless. Many are not sad about it. I will never forget the church
that I could go to. It was called "The Family Hand". Shelters are a good thing for the
most part.

Like I said, mine was a choice. The thought of a 9 to 5 made me sick. And never did
do it. I showed them. LOL. I did the 8am to 9pm for 30 years. It aged me hard and was tough. But I had a family and had responsibility.


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