Firefighters battle flames and exploding propane tanks at homeless camp fire

One person is in police custody after a fire at a homeless camp Sunday night that officials say was set intentionally. 

Firefighters were called to the big blaze at the Watson Street Park encampment at around 10 p.m. and had to deal with exploding propane tanks and a tough-to-access fire. 

"A fire near the river was reported by an individual and it quickly escalated to a much larger response because we were getting multiple calls from different areas," said Platoon Chief Gary Mosburger. 

"Because of the road construction and where it was, access was a bit of a challenge. We had to come in from a different direction down a bike path to be able to access the fire and had to relay water in." 

The fire has been deemed an arson and one person has been arrested, London police said Monday. 

"At the height of the fire we did have several propane tanks that were exploding, so we did have a fairly significant hazard at the site to deal with," Mosburger added. "It can definitely be a scary situation for our firefighters but we're one of the highest-trained professions when it comes to an all-hazard approach." 

There's no information about how many people were living at the camp at the time of the blaze. 

Fire crews were also called out to another fire overnight, this time at an industrial area off Wilton Grove Road, Mosburger said. "When they arrived our crews found a very large commercial business trailer that was fully involved." 

A man and his dog had left the trailer before fire crews arrived. The fire isn't suspicious but the trailer is completely destroyed. Damage is pegged at $150,000.