No injuries occurred when fire destroyed a homeless encampment near the square on Larch Street on Thursday afternoon.
Heavy black smoke could be seen throughout the downtown area after several tents and other items in the camp area went up in flames.
Items that were destroyed included tents, sleeping bags, clothing, an office chair and a bicycle.
Greater Sudbury firefighters were on the scene in minutes with a pumper truck and were able to extinguish the blaze quickly. No one could say how the fire began, but a fire department official on the scene said no one was injured.
A citizen standing nearby suggested somebody might have been using some sort of heating device or a cooking fire and that it got out of control. Several bystanders gathered across the street from the encampment to watch the firefighters do their work. Firefighters wrapped up their work in a matter of about 20 minutes.
Some fire officials remained on the scene to examine some of the burnt debris.
