Fire At Homeless Tent City Fills Downtown With Black Smoke

A fire at an unofficial homeless tent city created big clouds of black smoke rising from downtown Northampton on Sunday, Jan. 31.

Kristin Palpini

02/01/2021 10:30 a.m.

At around 10 a.m. on Sunday, Northampton Police started to receive reports of a fire at the unofficial, transient encampment under the New South Street bridge.

One person suffered minor injuries and was transported to the hospital, Northampton Police said.

The fire quickly extinguished.

An investigation into the blaze indicates that the fire was started accidentally by a propane space heater inside one of the tents.

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