A 60-year-old man who lives at Berkeley's fire-plagued Harrison Street corridor encampment has been charged with felony arson after allegedly setting a debris fire near tents and structures because he was angry someone had stolen his scooter. Patrick Ford was also charged with misdemeanor domestic violence in the same case after police say he punched his ex-girlfriend in the head twice during a separate dispute. He remains in custody in Berkeley on $50,000 bail as of this month.
According to The Berkeley Scanner, the fire broke out around 9:45 AM, with witnesses initially reporting a mattress and a pile of garbage ablaze. A witness told Berkeley police they saw Ford walking away from the flames carrying a torch and a can of gas, and officers later found him carrying a lighter matching that description. Charging papers say Ford admitted he had set the fire, and that he threatened to set more fires if his property was not returned to him. Ford's ex-girlfriend called police later that day to corroborate details about the blaze, the outlet reports.
Ford was out of custody on his own recognizance at the time of the encampment fire, and the same charging documents describe a separate, earlier incident involving the same ex-girlfriend. Police say Ford punched her because she had let his dog out of her tent while a truck was driving down the street. During his August arrest, he was also found carrying drug paraphernalia, per the same account.
A Camp Already Under Scrutiny for Fires and Disease
The Harrison Street corridor encampment has experienced multiple nearly catastrophic fires this year, according to a city report cited by the Berkeley Scanner, and the Berkeley Fire Department has responded to 55 calls tied to the encampment in 2026 alone. The site's population has also swelled dramatically, growing from roughly 37 residents earlier this year to more than 80 people by August as the city's abatement efforts stalled, The Berkeley Scanner reported.
Fire is not the only hazard officials have linked to the corridor. As Hoodline previously reported, a rat-borne leptospirosis outbreak tied to the encampment sickened residents living nearby, and KTVU reported in June that the outbreak resulted in one death and a hospitalization of a person living in an RV a mile away. Public health officials had detected the bacteria in encampment rats and dogs in late 2025, according to the station.
Court Order Keeps the Encampment in Place
The city declared the 14-block Harrison corridor a fire hazard and public nuisance in August, but it cannot fully clear the site without court-approved relocation options. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ordered the city and the Berkeley Homeless Union earlier this month to walk the streets together and pre-approve replacement tent sites for up to 23 unhoused residents before any clearance can move forward, the Berkeley Scanner reported. It is the latest in a string of judicial interventions: a 2025 sweep at Eighth and Harrison streets was halted by federal court hours after heavy machinery began clearing tents, following an emergency lawsuit from the Berkeley Homeless Union alleging the operation violated due process and disability protections, according to Berkeleyside.
The city has tried to offer alternatives. Officials established a 40-space safe parking site for RVs on Grayson Street this year and previously committed $7.3 million to convert the Super 8 motel — a project Hoodline covered back in 2023 — into transitional supportive housing. But some unhoused residents have resisted leaving the Northwest Berkeley encampments they call home, according to a report shared by Wrap Home.
Rising Numbers Amid a Regional Decline
Berkeley's overall homeless population climbed 4% to 880 people this year, even as Alameda County's unhoused population dropped 13% overall, falling from 9,450 in 2024 to 8,201 in 2026, according to preliminary Point-in-Time count data reported by Berkeleyside. The divergence underscores why the Harrison corridor has become such a persistent flashpoint even as other parts of the county make progress. Neighborhood tensions over the encampment are not new either — West Berkeley business owners sued the city in 2024 demanding removal of the camps, citing fires, criminal activity, and declining foot traffic.
Ford's Criminal History and Pending Case
Court records reviewed by the Berkeley Scanner show Ford has seven felony convictions, including commercial burglary, robbery, drug sales and possession, and a 1995 case involving discharge of a firearm with gross negligence. In a separate case from January, a Berkeley police officer reportedly saw Ford strangle a woman with both hands in the 2400 block of San Pablo Avenue, according to court papers; Ford released his hands from the victim's neck only when the officer activated red and blue lights. He was found carrying a glass pipe with burnt residue during that arrest, and the January case resulted in a misdemeanor charge of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury. Police secured an emergency protective order keeping Ford away from the woman following that incident.
Ford is scheduled to enter a plea in the new arson and domestic violence case this Thursday. Under California Penal Code Section 451(d), setting fire to personal property is a felony punishable by 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison, while arson of an inhabited structure under Section 451(b) carries a sentence of three, five, or eight years. Arson convictions are classified as serious felonies in California and qualify as strikes under the state's Three Strikes law. The misdemeanor domestic battery charge, under Penal Code Section 243(e)(1), carries penalties of up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $2,000, and mandatory enrollment in a 52-week batterer intervention program, according to the Shouse Law Group.
It remains unclear how the criminal case against Ford will affect the broader timeline for resolving safety hazards at the Harrison corridor, or how quickly the city and the Berkeley Homeless Union will agree on the court-ordered replacement tent sites. For now, the encampment where the fire broke out continues to grow, even as the fire department logs dozens of calls and city officials warn of the risks posed by a densely populated site surrounded by structures.
