One person was found deceased after a tent fire in Northwest D.C. Monday night. The tent was located at one of three homeless encampments set to be cleared this fall. (Shown above: an encampment in Dupont Circle)

Dee Dwyer / DCist

This story has been updated with additional information from D.C. Fire and EMS.

One person was found dead after a tent at a homeless encampment in Northwest D.C. went up in flames Monday night, according to D.C. Fire and EMS.

Fire and rescue crews were dispatched to the 400 block of O Street Northwest shortly before 11 p.m. Monday. When they arrived, they found a tent on fire. Personnel extinguished the fire and found a person dead inside the tent. The cause of death is pending autopsy and the city’s Arson Task Force is conducting a joint investigation of the incident, says Jennifer Donelan with D.C. Fire and EMS.

An investigation is standard operating procedure whenever there is a fire that involves a death. Officials have not identified the deceased individual.

The tent was located in a homeless encampment in Truxton Circle that is expected to be cleared this fall before the park it is in undergoes renovations. Residents of the encampment are slated to be rehoused as part of a city pilot program to close three homeless encampments and relocate residents to new housing. D.C. crews started clearing two encampments in NoMa on Monday, before suspending work when a bulldozer driver hit a tent and lifted the person inside it. No injuries were reported.

In 2020, 180 people experiencing homelessness died on city streets, a 54% increase over the year prior. By July of this year, 42 unhoused people had passed away.

Several other suspicious fires were reported early Tuesday morning in Northwest D.C. It’s not clear if the encampment fire is related.

Filed Under: encampments,