Coverage/pictures submitted to WRIL -
On Sunday evening February 19, 2023, at approximately 5:00pm, the Sunshine Volunteer Fire Department and Kentucky Division of Forestry responded to a fire near the Ky 72 and US 421 intersection. The fire was the site of a homeless camp beside railroad tracks and the Martins Fork River.
Fire trucks were unable to access the scene requiring firefighters to fight the blaze with rakes and buckets, dipping water from a small pond at the camp site. No one was at the site when firefighters arrived and the blaze was quickly extinguished. Firefighters were told two of the occupants of the camp were recently arrested and lodged in the Harlan County Detention Center.
Units from Sunshine stations 1 and 2 responded. Two units from the KY Forestry Service were on the scene assisting.
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