The City of Harrisburg is considering temporary fencing to keep people out of the Mulberry Street Bridge homeless encampment.

“If the Capital Area Coalition Against Homelessness can't convince the remaining people to leave, we are going to have to explore putting up temporary fencing in the area and basically shutting off that area to the public to address a public safety issue area,” said Matt Maisel, Harrisburg City Spokesperson.

Exterminators are scheduled to begin setting up rat traps and exterminating the area tomorrow. But a few stragglers are slowing down the process.

Right now, four tents and four individuals are still calling the area home. Over the weekend, a fire even burned some of the debris left behind. Because of rat infestation, the area is hazardous.

“We are up against the clock. We need to start this now. This has been a public safety issue for weeks now. We are at the point where we need to start the extermination process to eliminate this rat issue, so it doesn't continue to spread,” Maisel said.

CACH is working to help people find alternate living arrangements and other resources.

Extermination is expected to take at least six weeks to finish.