A fire in a small encampment in Minneapolis on Monday morning damaged a neighboring home.

Minneapolis fire officials said it happened around 9 a.m. on 16th Avenue South near 22nd Street East in a vacant city-owned lot where Deputy Fire Chief Staffan Swanson believed six to eight people were staying. He added that no injuries have been reported.

It was at least the second fire that’s burned a Minneapolis encampment this year and last month, several tents burned in a St. Paul camp.

Deputy Chief Swanson said the Monday fire was believed to have started with a propane tank and an attempt to escape the chilly morning air.

“You know, it’s just an unfortunate situation where they’re trying to stay warm in an area that got a little too close to their tent,” he said. “And it caught a tent on fire, and subsequently caught the fence on fire, and then the heat melted the siding on the house.”

Swanson said the damage was contained to the outside of the home next to the lot, adding that the wind on Monday morning likely increased the risk of spreading what was initially an intentional fire.

“Maybe they leave them unattended. I don’t know if that’s the case here, but they just turn their back for a second, sometimes that’s all it takes,” he said.

“It’s unfortunate. I would just like to see people stay very diligent about watching these fires.”

The city has cleared people from camping on this specific lot before and did not want them to return, as was evident by the boulders laid throughout the lot and the wire fence surrounding it.

“But then, apparently, the chunks aren’t close enough together, so some people managed to come,” said a neighbor named Sandy, who lives across the street.

She said she’s seen a few people set up camp there again recently as the breach in the city’s wire fence has grown.

That didn’t concern her initially.

“It was kind of live and let live” until the campfires cropped up, she said.

“I’d seen the smoke from the campfire, and I’d go out there to try and look and see what’s going on and wonder if I should call the fire department. And then you think, ‘Oh well, poor guy is trying to get by,'” Sandy said. “So you know, next time, I won’t be so compassionate. Next time, I’ll call the fire department.”

As the cycle continues for neighbors in South Minneapolis, the City Council is considering new ways to combat it, including designating outdoor spaces where people without homes can legally stay overnight — in part, to keep risks like fire away from residential areas.