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Fire in Phoenix's 'The Zone' leaves one man in burn center

A spokesman with the fire department said that multiple tents caught fire and one man was injured. Police say there seems to be no foul play.

PHOENIX — >>Editor's note: The above video is from a previously aired broadcast.

A fire Monday morning at Phoenix's largest homeless encampment, an area known as 'The Zone', has left one man in the hospital, said Captain Scott Douglas with the Phoenix Fire Department.

Officers responded to a fire at one of the tents near 9th Avenue and West Jackson Street that had spread to multiple other tents just after 1 in the morning.

Douglas said the cause is uncertain but fire crews responded and successfully extinguished the blaze.

One man suffered burns serious burns while inside the tent, and was taken to a local hospital in critical but stable condition. No firefighters were hurt at the incident.

Phoenix police said that "several accelerants" were being kept inside the tent, but early investigations suggested that there was no foul play.

It's not the first time this year that a fire has broken out in the area.

Credit: 12News
First responders on scene at a fire in Phoenix's largest homeless encampment early Monday morning.

On Monday, Oct. 31, a fire in the The Zone completely destroyed two of the makeshift homes in the area. One woman who lived at the encampment said that fires were a common occurrence.

The Phoenix Fire Department has previously said that they're looking into how many fires happen in The Zone, and say that they're more common as temperatures drop into the winter months.

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Phoenix is in the midst of fighting a lawsuit from downtown residents accusing the city of not doing enough to address the needs of its growing unhoused population.

For those impacted by fires, the Phoenix Fire Department offers a Community Assistance Program which provides crisis intervention and victim assistance services.

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