No one was at the scene when firefighters arrived at the encampment.
There were no injuries and the fire threatened no structures.
SPFD: Burning mattress found in
familiar homeless encampment
October 17, 2014
Santa Paula News
Santa Paula Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish a burning mattress in a homeless encampment in the Santa Paula Creek bottom Tuesday night that threatened to spread into dry brush.
According to SPFD Captain John Harber, the October 14 incident was reported at 9:34 p.m.
“It was initially reported to be on Grant Line,” just northeast of Santa Paula Street, but when firefighters arrived on scene they found the fire was in the bottom of Santa Paula Creek and “only accessible by the storm drain... “
The fire was quickly determined to be rubbish and a mattress Harber said was “being burned in a rock pile... and the cause was intentional. Firefighters extinguished the fire and completed the overhaul,” of the burned area, which was confined to about 10 feet by 20 feet.
Harber said firefighters are familiar with the area where Tuesday’s fire occurred: “Actually, we’ve been there before in the exact same location. And the other fires we’ve responded to have also been encampments.”
