ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Fire crews battling flames in Orchard Park made a surprising discovery deep in the woods Monday morning - numerous homeless encampments.

Patrick Fitzgerald, Chief of the Orchard Park Police Department, tells WIVB News 4 around 7 a.m. Monday, they received several reports of a loud explosion. Officers were dispatched to the 3500 block of South Benzing Rd., where they found heavy smoke showing from a nearby wooded area.

"Police and fire did respond and located a fire back on vacant land," said Fitzgerald. "The fire was extinguished by the fire department."

Fitzgerald says this wasn't a typical brush fire. Instead, when crews made their way into the wood, they found flames coming from a spot where homeless people had been living.

"In the process of getting to

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