Fire breaks out at homeless encampment off 405 Freeway in Van Nuys

VAN NUYS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A fire broke out at a homeless encampment in Van Nuys early Thursday morning.

The blaze broke out around 8 a.m. near the 15300 block of Oxnard Street and the 405 Freeway.

AIR7 was above the scene and captured smoke billowing into the air across the freeway. Video posted to the Citizen app shows thick plumes of black smoke just behind a building.

The fire was extinguished a short time later, though firefighters had difficulty getting to the blaze due to limited access.

"There are some safety concerns that entail a homeless encampment fire," said LAFD Capt. Erik Scott. "In the recent past, we've had some explosions that have injured firefighters. On this morning's incident, there were some minor popping sounds that were similar to explosions taking place. We then had more of a defensive posture that led to the tactic of us extinguishing that fire from a safe location on the northbound 405 Freeway where we brought a fire engine with its own turret-like wagon battery and our own water supplies since there's not a fire hydrant to be able to extinguish that. We're glad to say that we arrived quickly, extinguished the flames, and no one was injured."

Residents in the area said this isn't the first time a fire has erupted at the encampment. They also said the encampment was cleared out a few months ago but popped up again.

"A couple of years ago, we even had the city councilman, we had everybody involved but ... everybody points fingers," said Greg Nalbandian, a business owner in the area. "They say, 'Oh, it's owned by Corps of Engineering, they can't do it. LAPD can't do anything, their hands are tied. CHP can't do anything because their hands are tied.' So it's just .. going in circles. It's no end."

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.