Firefighters extinguished a homeless encampment fire inside narrow storm drains in Oxnard April 22, according to authorities.
The Oxnard Fire Department and Ventura County Fire Department responded to calls of smoke coming out of a storm drain near Kepler Drive and Emerson Avenue, near Lemonwood Elementary School, around 4:30 p.m., said Fire Chief Alex Hamilton of Ventura Fire.
Fire engines, ladder trucks, battalion chiefs from both Oxnard and Ventura County, ambulances, paramedics and an urban search and rescue unit comprising of more than two dozen people were deployed to respond to the incident, Hamilton said.
The fire was at a homeless encampment about 50 to 100 feet deep inside a narrow storm drain, which was only about 4-feet high and 4-feet wide, Hamilton said.
Responding to the incident was challenging for firefighters because the fire was in a confined, difficult cramped space, he said.
The fire was extinguished after around two hours and there were no injuries or people missing, he said.
Ventura County Fire couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Similar fires inside storm drains happen a few times a year, Hamilton added. The investigation of the incident is ongoing, he said.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Firefighters extinguish homeless encampment fire in Oxnard storm drain
Reporting by Staff reports, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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