AUSTIN, Texas — Neighbors in South Austin say they’re concerned after a fire started in a homeless camp near their homes on Saturday, Jan. 11.
According to the Austin Fire Department (AFD), the fire burned through an abandoned building, an 18-wheeler and piles of tires on Peaceful Hill Lane.
Lisa Quillen, a neighbor who lives across the street from the vacant building, said when she saw smoke filling the air, she thought it was her own home on fire.
“There were flames coming over the fences and stuff, but it was billowing black,” she said.
Quillen said the encampment was surrounded by brush, debris and cedar trees that bordered the property. She said it took minutes for the flames to rise above the tree line.
She said AFD responded quickly, but she and her neighbors were scared.
“The neighbors further down, they were getting embers on their roofs. And that’s when you get out the water hose because you don’t want your house to catch on fire,” Quillen said.
An AFD spokesperson told KVUE that crews put out the fire within an hour; however, Quillen said this isn’t the first time a fire has been sparked in the empty lot.
“I know several other neighbors have called about concerns about the health hazard, and the dogs that they had there and the burnings,” Quillen said. “We didn’t know what they were burning, but it smelt like plastic.”
Austin City Councilmember Vanessa Fuentes, who represents the area, said the lot has been a concern.
“About a year ago, back in March 2024, there were issues with the law. And, quickly, our Code Department worked with the property owner,” she said. “There had been some remediation, but what we’ve seen in recent months that there was there was illegal activity again.”
Fuentes said in collaboration with the Homeless Strategy Office, the city was able to reduce the size of the camp – but it just moved down the street instead.
Quillen is frustrated about the situation.
“I hate that it would take something of this magnitude, where it possibly could have hurt someone for them to take action,” she said. “I guess they thought we were crying wolf, but not everybody does that.”
Fuentes, who was alerted about the fire by a constituent, said her office wants to find a solution to keep another fire from sparking.
“I am a big champion of ensuring that we have the necessary funding needed to ensure that we’re getting more of our unhoused neighbors indoors,” she said. “It really is about providing housing, mental health services, treatment, wraparound, case management.”
Fuentes said listening to and communicating with neighbors is her top priority. She said when the weather gets cold, AFD already has protocols in place when there is inclement weather to mass communicate with unhoused populations, provide them with fire safety information and provide fire extinguishers.
She said the city is working with the property manager about code compliance.
A spokesperson for AFD told KVUE that investigators are still looking into what sparked Saturday’s fire.