The incident happened Wednesday night on the tennis courts at the Marinship Park camp, and the city reported one arrest. The blaze destroyed several tents, but no injuries were reported.
Thursday morning was the deadline for the unsheltered residents of 25 tents to move from a grass field with fecal contamination to a new campsite at the tennis courts. The residents of the site received notices from the city to vacate the encampment two days before the fire and explosion rocked the site.
Sausalito Mayor Janelle Kellman issued a statement calling on the county to provide aid in managing the crisis at the encampment.
Kellman said the site is“costing an overwhelming amount of taxpayer dollars and private landowners have incurred significant losses."
The emergency order will remain in place for a maximum of seven days before it must be ratified by the City Council, it said. The Sausalito city manager and director of emergency services told the San Francisco Chronicle the encampment has been “criminal activity.”
In December, the city approved a about a half-million dollar contract with the San Francisco- based Urban Alchemy to provide services to homeless campers at Marinship Park for six months.