Fire crews knock down blaze at homeless encampment on South Tacoma Way

A fire broke out Wednesday afternoon at a homeless encampment near a busy intersection in South Tacoma. Fire crews were quickly able to get the blaze under control.

Firefighters were called to the intersection of South Tacoma Way and South 74th Street around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Tacoma Fire Department spokesperson Joe Meinecke said. He said the fire originated in a homeless encampment, but he did not know if anyone was inside. He said no injuries were reported from the fire.

The fire burned several cars near the intersection.

The fire threatened some trees and a nearby lumber yard, but the fire was under control by about 2:15 p.m., according to a tweet from the fire department.

This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 2:37 PM.

Peter Talbot

The News Tribune

Peter Talbot is a criminal justice reporter for The News Tribune. He started with the newspaper in 2021. Before that, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at Indiana University. In college, he worked as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C. He also interned for the Oregonian and the Tampa Bay Times. Support my work with a digital subscription