Homeless encampment destroyed by overnight fire in Castroville

An overnight fire in Castroville destroyed a homeless encampment near Davis and Poole Street on Wednesday.

No one was injured in the fire and whoever may have been in the encampment at the time ran off before fire crews got to work putting out the fire.

North County Fire says there was some concern the fire would spread up a hill into nearby homes and apartment buildings. Some residents who reported the fire asked if they had to be evacuated from the area.

Fire crews deemed that evacuation order unnecessary and were able to put out the fire quickly.

Actually putting out the fire proved an issue for firefighters as the area where the encampment was located was inaccessible for some time for crews trying to battle the blaze.

They were finally able to find a side road to get to where the fire was.

As far as what caused the fire, that remains a mystery. Although crews are keeping the low temperatures in consideration and believe the fire may have been caused by a warming fire.

That has not been confirmed, however. Fire crews said they weren’t able to locate anyone who may have been in the homeless encampment at the time the fire started.