Woods fire may have started at homeless camp - MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS
GAUTIER, MS (AP) - Gautier Fire Chief Ray Friar says a fire that burned nearly 150 acres of woods off U.S. 90 may have started accidentally around a campsite set up by a homeless group.
Friar says investigators found an elaborate campsite with a fire pit used for heat, cooking and trash-burning, candles placed on tree branches and stumps, and a lot of cigarette butts thrown out haphazardly.
The fire started Wednesday on the south side of the highway just east of Mississippi 57.
Friar says embers started a fire a quarter-mile north of the highway and the fire jumped again, igniting woods another quarter-mile away.
Authorities have found no reason to believe the fire was intentionally set.
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