Encampment burns down in Denver in area set aside for unhoused community

It was a frightening scene on Saturday night as a homeless encampment on Elati Street and 8th Avenue went up in flames.

Video shared by a neighbor shows the fire cracking and popping moments after the site caught fire.

"It was a horrific site," said Craig Arfsten, with Citizens for a Safe and Clean Denver. Arfsten went out to the scene after receiving numerous calls from concerned neighbors in the area. 

Neighbors in the area told CBS News Colorado that the fire moved quickly, getting within feet of people's homes. The Denver Fire Department said that no one was injured in the fire.

"I'm scared for the people that were here, for the innocent members of the community that are scared all around," said Dawn McNulty, who lives in the Historic Baker neighborhood. "They're within 1,000 feet of three public community schools. I don't think that a shelter with 50 homeless people should be housed by these schools." 

The Safe Outdoor Space that caught fire, also known as an SOS site, serves as temporary sheltering for the homeless. The site on 8th and Elati was opened in November 2021 and included about 50 tents. It's unclear how many of the tents were occupied at the time of the fire.

"To be in that close proximity to other tents and have that happen last night, I think it could have been foreseeable," Arfsten said. 

Neighbors who live nearby said the city, Denver Health and the Colorado Village Collaborative who run the space didn't take their concerns seriously before erecting the tent site.

"They were concerned about crime, they were concerned about open drug use," Arfsten said. "They wanted some safeguards in place and they really didn't get it. They just got lip service and there was no transparency."

Those who live in neighborhood are now asking for a different solution to house the homeless, one that works for everyone, so that an incident like this doesn't happen again.

"We need to have more dialogue," said Arfsten. "Sit down with the residents and hear their concerns and take them seriously."

CBS News Colorado contacted the city of Denver in response to the incident, and they referred us to the Colorado Village Collaborative. Jennifer Forker, a spokesperson with CVC, said in part, "The swift action of our staff made sure all our community members were safe. And due to their actions and the swift action of responding emergency personnel, the neighbors were never at risk." When we asked Forker about the concerns of the neighbors, those requests went unanswered. 

The official cause of the fire is under investigation.