Large encampment fire draws fire crews to south London

London firefighters fought what they described as a large encampment fire in south London, Wednesday evening.

Multiple 911 calls and the sounds of multiple small explosions drew roughly 20 firefighters to the area of Adelaide Street and Royce Court to respond to the blaze, according to a platoon chief Gary Mossburger.

"We did have aerosol containers that were on fire and burning, causing explosions, all while there were propane tanks close by. Luckily none of them actually breached or had expelled any type of propane, to make matters worse," he said.

Within an hour of responding to the calls the fire had been knocked down despite being in a hard to reach area, behind several layers of fencing, thorny bushes, and a ravine, Mossburger said.

No one was injured in the fire, he added.

"We had no occupants in the area when we arrived," he said, adding that it's difficult to know how many people who were staying in the encampment had been displaced.

Officials from the City of London's Coordinated Informed Response (CIR) team had been contacted to come to the scene.

The CIR team is designed to provide outreach and support to Londoners living unsheltered.

Photos posted to social media show billowing clouds of smoke above the remnants of an encampment, painting a similar picture to images posted by fire officials days before of a separate encampment fire.

Last week, fire officials asked those living in encampments to avoid lighting fires as cold weather approaches, citing a perennial increase in calls similar to Wednesday evening's during the winter months.

In April, a woman died after being caught in a fire in a makeshift tent on a sidewalk in the city's east end. Her parents said the fire started because she was burning hand sanitizer to stay warm.

Fire crews were no longer on scene in south London by 7:30 p.m., on Wednesday.