Fire at homeless camps in Modesto causes blast, spreads to truck yard
A trash and debris fire in homeless camps on South Ninth Street on Sunday night created a loud boom and spread to an adjacent trucking yard, resulting in thousands of dollars in damage and a large plume of smoke.
Modesto and Ceres fire crews responded to the blaze about 9:15 p.m. on the 900 block of South Ninth.
A fence line that runs from the railroad easement to Ninth is filled with individual homeless camps that include tents, tarps, mattresses and debris, Ceres Battalion Chief Bret Presson said Monday. The fire was about 200 feet to 300 feet off the road, and firefighters laid down hose along the fence line, he said.
A five-gallon propane cylinder exploded during the fire. Its boom and the smoke from the fire generated several posts on social media.
All those camping in the area apparently evacuated safely. Crews searched the camp just as they would a residential structure, Presson said, and no one was found injured.
The fire was right at the edge of the A&B Truck Repair yard, Presson said, and burned a couple of tractor-trailers. He said the owner of A&B told him the old trucks were purchased from customers and were used for parts.
A fire investigator estimated the damage to the vehicles at $6,000, Presson said.
The battalion chief said crews knocked down the fire within 15 minutes and then spent about 45 minutes ensuring it was fully extinguished.
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 10:18 AM.
