Fire at homeless camp in downtown law office crawl space causes $200K in damage, AFD says

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Fire crews fought a fire at a homeless camp under a law office at 1607 Nueces St. between 16th and 17th streets downtown early Thursday morning. It caused $150,000 in damage to the structure and $50,000 in damage to contents, AFD says.

According to AFD, they were called to the scene just after 4:15 a.m.

The fire appeared to have started in a large crawl space under the office where a homeless camp is, AFD said. The address provided by AFD comes back to an immigration law firm called J. Sparks Law, PLLC.

AFD said no one was hurt in the fire, and AFD had it under control just before 5 a.m. AFD says the cause of the fire was improperly discarded smoking material.

Fire crews will remain onscene at 1607 Nueces for the next few hours to monitor hot spots as Investigators look at cause determination. Fire appears to have started in large crawl space underneath office where a homeless camp exists. pic.twitter.com/RwCGLYxFSx

— Austin Fire Info (@AustinFireInfo) June 18, 2020