By AKANE OTANI
A 53-year-old resident of The Jungle, a homeless encampment in the City of Ithaca, was left in critical condition after his tent caught on fire Wednesday afternoon.
At around 2:55 p.m., Tompkins County 911 received a call that a tent in The Jungle was on fire, according to a press release from the Ithaca Police Department. A man was caught in the fire, and an employee of Cayuga Lumber — who happened to be passing by — tried to help extinguish the flames by throwing snow at the man’s clothing, IPD said.
When emergency responders arrived at the scene, they found the man had suffered serious burns. He was transported by Bangs Ambulance to Cayuga Medical Center and then subsequently transferred to a regional burn unit, according to the IPD.
The IPD, Ithaca Fire Department and New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control are working together to try to investigate what caused the fire.
Smoke emerges from a fire that started Wednesday at The Jungle, a homeless encampment located near Wegmans.(Courtesy of the Ithaca Fire Department)