OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The Legacy Crossing apartments, near 104th and Fort Streets in Omaha, were condemned in December.
Among the reasons for the condemnation were fire hazards. Monday, a fire broke out that burned more than three hoursbefore it could be declared under control.
A neighbor of the now-vacant buildings told us in early January he believes at least one person was using the units there. Robert Maguire has a good view of the happenings at the complex, living in the only home off Fort Street between the complex and businesses on 103rd Street.
Since then, he hasn't seen any evidence of it. He says they know of his cameras now because he posted videos online. But he still believes people are inside.
"They've probably got squatters in every building," he said. "I've done maintenance since 1988, so I understand."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. But an Omaha Fire report said "evidence of squatters was noted."
Update: A fire department spokesperson said the evidence included open buildings, trash and belongings. It's unclear though how long the trash and belongings were there.
The situation makes Mike Horacek, CEO and president of Together Omaha, a nonprofit working to end homelessness, think about the affordable housing crisis. He says it has "ripple effects."
A shortage in housing is directly linked to the number of people experiencing street homelessness, he said.
"It's not uncommon for us to see people that are experiencing homelessness try to find refuge in vacant buildings," he said. "We need a lot more low-income housing and we need a lot more permanent supportive housing. And that would contribute a lot to things like this not happening."
While there are shelters, he says being without necessities like shelter and food can cause poor behavior.
"If you're not able to get the help you need," he said, "a lot of times you're (temporarily) barred from the local shelters or asked to leave."
Horacek says that's an example of when people look to vacant buildings for shelter.
"It puts them at risk of harm," he said. "It puts our ... police officers and firefighters at risk."
He said the crisis needs to be discussed at all levels of government.
The company managing the property, Access Commercial, did not respond to calls from 3 News Now on Tuesday.
A city spokesperson said when they took over the property through receivership in December that they had 24/7 security. It's unclear if that's still the case, but Maguire said he's seen private overnight security paroling as recently as a few weeks ago.
Burglaries at Legacy Crossing were reported to police in the early days of 2023 and a burglary at the clubhouse was reported to police in March, police reports show.
This story was updated to add details provided by the Omaha Fire Department about what the evidence of squatters was.
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