Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen Eight individuals were displaced due to fires that burned “at least two RVs” and other structures in the Waldo Street area Friday evening, Crescent City Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Ray Rook told Redwood Voice Community News. Rook said he and six firefighters arrived on scene at about 9:21 p.m. to find two fully involved fires about 100 to 200 yards apart. The larger fire involved at least two RVs and other structures, including one that someone was living in. The blazes were down toward the end of Waldo Street on the gravel portion of the road in an area that houses several homeless encampments, Rook said. The cause and origin of the fires are still undetermined, the battalion chief said. There were no injuries. “I’m leaning on the side of arson — there were people everywhere but nobody talks,” Rook said. “It was pretty obvious to me it was and when we get fires out there they’re caused by somebody trying to heat something and the fire gets out of control. Unofficial on both (the origin and cause) is the official standpoint.” It took about two hours for firefighters to extinguish the blaze, according to Rook. Pelican Bay State Prison and CalFire provided assistance. Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott said the fires that occurred on Friday and others his deputies responded to earlier in the week appear to have been started deliberately, though he didn’t know the details of the investigation. Scott said his deputy, Hannah Brown, is investigating one of the fires as is Crescent Fire Protection District’s arson investigator. “I’m not 100% sure if the one yesterday was an occupied trailer or not, but the (fires) on the previous day appeared to be an abandoned trailer and an old car,” Scott said. “Both got torched, set on fire.” The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office has increased its policing efforts in the Waldo area and have reduced the number of people living there from more than 100 to about 30, Scott said. “There are a lot of abandoned trailers and cars and that kind of stuff,” he said. “It’s given the appearance that someone is setting those fires, but I don’t know the details off hand of the investigation.” Crescent City Fire and Rescue responded to reports of an RV and a car on fire in the Waldo Street area at about 3:22 p.m. on Wednesday, said Rook, who was the duty chief for that incident. When his firefighters arrived on scene they found the car fully involved and a smaller fire in the RV that was smoking. “They weren’t caused by each other,” Rook said, adding that the RV was about 75 feet away from the car. “The sheriff was out there again as well that day. During the day, evacuations were completed and nobody was hurt.” While the American Red Cross was called for the eight individuals who were displaced as a result of the fires on Friday, Rook said he had no update on whether or not they received assistance. A bystander also offered help to the eight individuals, but Rook said when he followed up he said he hadn’t heard from them.