City of Modesto says it will work toward filling in homeless caves following CBS13 report

    MODESTO, California (KOVR) -- The City of Modesto said it will work to fill in caves along the Tuolumne River that appear to have been repopulated by the homeless.

Neighbors have recently noticed activity down in the once-fully furnished caves again and called CBS13 to help get action from the city. We first uncovered the caves in January 2024.

"We begged the city earlier this year to come in and cover these up and as you can see, they just have a makeshift orange fence," said Tracy Rojas, who lives in the area. "There were kids, pets, everything going back into the cave living."

Our cameras spotted clothes hangers, groceries, a blanket and other evidence that showed the homeless appeared to be back to living there.

A day after CBS13 started asking questions again, the City of Modesto Park Rangers were out inspecting the caves. The city gave me this statement on the issue:

"Our Modesto Police Department team inspected the area and found an old, abandoned camp with no signs of current occupancy. Our Park Rangers regularly patrol the area and will continue to monitor it closely. If any additional concerns arise, we will promptly inspect the area and address them. Most of the originally reported caves collapsed over the course of the past winter and are no longer accessible. We are working with the appropriate agencies on the necessary procedures to complete the process to fill in the remaining open areas."

"They are just looking for somewhere to be safe," said Major Darren Stratton with the Salvation Army in Modesto.

Stratton hopes the homeless will instead seek safety at shelters. The Salvation Army has 380 beds with free hot meals, but it's not enough to serve every unhoused person.

Point-in-time survey data from the past five years shows that 2,000-plus people are almost consistently unhoused in Stanislaus County.

"We know that the need is much greater than the resources that are available to meet that need," Stratton said.

Neighbors like Rojas were concerned that the cold season on the way could cause more people to seek refuge in the caves.

"Part of it too, Tori, is they don't want to go into alternative housing," Rojas said. "They like living on the street and this is their home."

UC Davis Professor of Watershed Hydrology Gregory Pasternack believes that if flash flooding were to occur, it could be dangerous for the campers and community up above.

"They're highly susceptible to collapse and then that would collapse whatever else is above it whether it's levies or homes," Pasternack said.

The people living above the caves want the city to keep its word and fill them in for everybody's safety.

"Whoever is in charge of making this safe, we really need your attention on this. You were strong in the beginning when the media attention was there, but as soon as the media went onto another story, you went onto another issue," Rojas said.

The City of Modesto says it is continuing to work with multiple agencies to connect homeless people to resources.

Last month, it celebrated the grand opening of a new housing project for the homeless. It is located at 835 California Ave. and it is designed to provide essential housing and resources for vulnerable populations with seven multi-family units.