Homeless Camp Causes Brush Fire at WKXL

Concord Fire and Rescue teams were called to the grounds of WKXL 1450, the city’s only AM radio station, for a brush fire at around 8:30 p.m. on May 8.

The fire was located in the woods just beyond the wetlands area where the station’s radio tower is located, on the southern part of the parcel.

A command center was quickly was set up on Redington Road, right outside the station’s studios.

One of the fire truck units, believing it could cross the wetlands area, attempted to drive to the fire but stopped before running into the tower lines where it appeared to get stuck in the swamp. Other firefighters attempted to reach the blaze from Memorial Field and Langley Parkway, on an access road used to launch the Fourth of July fireworks.

Firefighters and forest teams made their way across the swampy tower area with cans of water and axes and after about 40 minutes, put the bulk of the blaze out.

At one point, a firefighter stated on the scanner that the fire appeared to have been started due to “a camp or people partying.”

At around 9 p.m., firefighters identified at least one homeless man at the scene and were questioning him about the blaze. It is unknown whether charges will be filed against the man, who has a previous criminal history, according to Concord Police arrest reports.

The scene of the fire, a wooded area that borders the softball fields at Memorial Field, has been a haven for homeless people for a number of years but unlike the camps at I-393 or behind the Everett Arena, has not been cleared out.