Firefighters quickly contain Salinas homeless camp fire

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) -- A fire at a homeless camp in Salinas nearly forced a nearby church to evacuate Sunday morning until crews were able to quickly put the fire out.

The Salinas Fire Department responded to reports of black smoke off Post Drive at a homeless camp behind the AAA building.

When crews got there they reported seeing a fire burning 50-by-50 feet in the camp. Fire crews tell KION they also heard propane tanks exploding as they responded to the scene.

The fire was quickly contained, but Salinas Fire had to chop down some of the trees located in the camp site because they were badly burned and could potentially topple over.

A resident who called 9-1-1 about the fire says this isn't the first time a fire has happened at the camp. Salinas Fire says there are a number of fuels in the camp site that could have made the fire worse than it was.

Post Drive was closed for at least two hours as crews mopped up the scene.