31 January 2024
A fire at an encampment near a St. Paul nature sanctuary spread to several tents, but no injuries were reported, according to the fire department.
Firefighters were called to an area just north of Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, east of downtown, about 1:50 a.m. Wednesday and extinguished the fire. The people staying in the tents weren’t there when firefighters arrived, said Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso.
A wood-burning stove, a propane heater and propane tanks were found inside tents. An open flame too close to flammable material accidentally caused the blaze, but it’s not known which heat source ignited it, Mokosso said.
St. Paul’s Homeless Assistance Response Team (HART) and the fire department had been to the encampment Friday for cleanup and fire prevention education, “talking about the danger of having open flames, especially inside tents, and issues around potential carbon monoxide poisoning,” Mokosso said.
The HART team, which is on-site several times each week, has seen more than 10 tents at the encampment at any given time, but less than 20; not all tents are occupied and some are used as gathering spaces, according to Casey Rodriguez, St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections spokesman. The encampment is on Ramsey County property north of the park, Rodriguez said.
The team is working to assess whose tents were damaged or destroyed, and determine what resources are most helpful at this time.
The HART team was tracking 120 people living in tents at 23 encampments throughout St. Paul as of two weeks ago. There were 25 active sites as of Wednesday.
“Each of these individuals have their own story, and specific considerations must be made when linking them with assistance,” Rodriguez said. “Our Homeless Assistance Response Team works to build one-on-one relationships to best connect people with the medical, mental health and any other services they need to get back on their feet.”
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