Burlington firefighters this week extinguished fires in a waterfront-area encampment and a North End mobile home park.

At about 6 PM Tuesday August 20, the Burlington Fire Department responded to a fire in a wooded area off Lake St. near the bike path, just a short walk into the woods.

Upon arrival, crews discovered a 30’ x 30’ area of an encampment fully enveloped in the fire. The BFD quickly dealt with the flames. No occupants were found and nobody was injured. The fire was contained solely to the encampment, preventing it from spreading further.

There is concern that homeless individuals may have been using the area as a temporary shelter, raising questions about causes of the blaze. The Burlington Fire Marshal’s office will be conducting a detailed investigation to determine the origin and cause of the fire. 

Mobile home fire took long time to extinguish – Shortly before midnight on August 21, the Burlington Fire Department responded to multiple calls of a reported structure fire at 21 Avenue C. Ladder 4 and Ambulance 4 arrived quickly to find fire and smoke showing from a single story trailer and stretched a hoseline to the front door to start attacking the fire.

Due to construction features and the amount of contents inside the home, the blaze was difficult to extinguish, firefighters say. This fire went to two alarms, calling in all on-duty companies, off- duty Burlington firefighters, and crews from neighboring departments. There were no civilian or firefighter injuries.

The community is encouraged to provide any information that might assist in the investigation by contacting the Fire Marshal’s office at 802-864-5577 or via email at bfdfiremarshal@burlingtonvt.gov.