A firefighter talks to a LAPD officer after a fire is extinguished at Hollenbeck Park on Jan. 24, 2025. Photo by Andrew Lopez.

Firefighters quickly extinguished a fire that erupted under the 5 Freeway along Hollenbeck Park on Friday afternoon.

The fire was reported at 12:18 p.m. according to L.A. City Fire Dept. spokesperson Lindsay Lance. Videos on the Citizen app showed flames under the bridge and a large plume of smoke could be seen from Roosevelt High School. 

Smoke coming from Hollenbeck Park seen from Roosevelt High School. Photo by Genesis Peña.
Firefighters put out encampment fire at Hollenbeck Park. Photo by Andrew Lopez.

Firefighters arrived to see a homeless encampment on fire, according to LAFD Station 2 Captain Enrique Graciano. It took about 15 minutes to extinguish and no injuries were reported from the incident, he said. “We come here quite often,” Graciano added.

Alex Medina served as a community reporter for Boyle Heights Beat from 2022 to 2024 and as an associate editor and reporter from 2024 to 2025. He was also a participant in the Boyle Heights Beat Youth Journalism Program from 2015 to 2018. He earned his degree from Hamilton College in 2022. In his free time, he enjoys reading and walking.

Andrew Lopez is a Los Angeles native with roots across the Eastside. He studied at San Francisco State University and later earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. He returned to Los Angeles from the Bay Area to report for Boyle Heights Beat from 2023 to 2025 through UC Berkeley’s California Local News Fellowship. When he is not reporting, Lopez mentors youth journalists through The LA Local’s youth journalism program. He enjoys practicing photojournalism and covering the intersections of culture, history and local government in Eastside communities.

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