Man’s plan to make neighborhood safer after losing home to fire

A raging fire burned a house to the ground while killing a beloved family cat in the process. Now, the man who lived in this home has some ideas to prevent something like this from happening again.

WINK News was there when this fire lit up the night sky on Third Street in Fort Myers last Thursday.

Investigators say Anthony Vuolo admitted to lighting a box on fire on the porch.

• RELATED: Fort Myers man who lost house after homeless man allegedly set fire asks city council for changes

The home’s owner, Jerry Miller, said his mom and dog made it out, but his family’s favorite cat, Lilly, was lost.

Now, instead of letting grief get the best of him, Miller is sharing how he wants to make his neighborhood safer.

Miller said that things like homelessness and mental health need to be taken seriously.

“Maybe we can turn this into a positive somehow,” he said.

Councilman Johnny Streets agreed that something needs to be done.

Fort Myers police said that although there is a loitering ordinance in the state, it’s not easy to implement. They don’t want people in trouble for simply not having a place to stay. Still, as local leaders said, with the homeless population increasing in our area, it’s time to start looking at creative ways to tackle the issue, like what Miller mentioned.

Steve Brooder, CEO of St. Matthew’s House, said data shows that the growing homeless problem is only worsening.

“A point in time count we’re about to have here at the end of January when we attempt to count every homeless person in each area,” he said. “It’s typically an undercount, but we saw a 52% increase 23 over 22 in the homelessness counted, and 46% in Lee County.”

Miami is one city Miller said has certain policies in place that tackle the issue, and he thinks Fort Myers can follow suit.

“Some of the homeless and just other people, not just homeless, that were cited with petty crimes, you can get your fines taken away, and your record clear if you work, spend hours with the parks department, and they assign them different tasks,” he said.

Brooder agrees creative solutions are necessary, but he doesn’t know if that model, in particular, is what’s best for our area. He has other ideas.

“I’ve followed that in Miami and some of the larger urban centers. Some would argue that that’s leniency that just doesn’t stop the problem, but I think we have to look at a lot of different ways to tackle the problem,” Brooder said. “I think looking to rezoning greater density, co-housing sharing housing, lots of ideas that we see around the country emerging to address it.”

Brooder said fresh data from the Hunger and Homeless Coalition shows that in Lee County alone, 165 women are living in their cars, and that’s just the ones they know about. He said the trends are alarming.

Miller worries that if the city doesn’t address the issue, people will decide to move elsewhere.