The fire broke out around 6 pm Sunday, and drew a quick response from Hartford and Hanover firefighters. All photos © Eric Francis.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION - A suspicious fire late Sunday afternoon in an abandoned homeless encampment sent smoke rolling above the Urban Bridge, which spans the White River near the Bugbee Senior Center.
The fire itself was confined to just one of the large piles of soiled tents, clothing, mattresses and other debris that are scattered between the railroad tracks and the riverbank just off the edge of the downtown.
Police said the site appeared to be the remnants of last fall’s active “camping” scene and there was no obvious reason why it would suddenly have burst into flames around 6 p.m., given that it didn’t appear anyone had actually been staying there over the weekend.
Hartford Police Corporal Aleya Leombruno looks over the fire scene in a homeless encampment under the Urban Bridge in downtown White River Junction.
There was one tent on the riverbank another fifty or so yards up that did appear to be set up and in active use, but no one was around the fire area when police made their way down to investigate it. Firefighters from Hartford and Hanover lowered a small hose designed for fighting wildfires down from a pumper truck on the deck of the Urban Bridge above and quickly knocked down the fire, which had begun to involve several small trees ringing the cluster of tents.
Because of the remote area, fire engines parked on the bridge deck and dropped a hose line down to crews below.
Firefighters described the fire danger in the woods right now as “moderate,” but said if the fire had remained unchecked there was plenty of underbrush that could have been set ablaze had it spread along the riparian barrier on the riverbank.
Hanover firefighters joined the overhaul effort, raking through piles of discarded clothing, tents, and trash make sure everything was out.
They also noted the danger at the scene from an extraordinary number of used drug syringes that had been dumped by the fistful throughout the encampment in all sorts of makeshift buckets and containers, as well as scattered by the dozens in the woods immediately around it.
Hartford Fire Captain Brett Quillia waves to the northbound Amtrak Vermonter train as it rolls past the scene.
