MODESTO — There are renewed concerns in Modesto after a fire was set inside a cave along the Tuolumne River. It's among the latest developments in a story CBS13 was first to bring you about the homeless who dug multiple caves.
The Modesto Fire Department said it responded Wednesday afternoon to a report of smoke coming from one of the caves near Crater Avenue.
"My wife saw some smoke coming out of the river, I thought it was fog and she went 'No, that's smoke,' " said one resident who didn't want to be identified.
The fire department said it had to call in a truck company to use ropes to lower its crews down to put out the flames because of the steep terrain. Modesto police then sent in a robot to ensure the cave was cleared.
The neighbor said he saw two people come out of the cave, but police and fire could not confirm this.
Inside the cave, there are obvious signs of people living there with two makeshift grills, a box of belongings and the outline of where bedding once was that appears to have caught fire.
It is less luxurious than what the caves looked like when CBS13 was the first to uncover them in January 2024 when they were fully furnished. The city's solution then was to clear them out and put up barricades.
In October 2024, signs of the campers returning started to pop up and the city told CBS13 it would be working to fill the caves in.
After a year of asking questions, Modesto city, fire and police officials finally met with CBS13 on Thursday. They said that a city engineer is still reviewing the site and the work that needs to be done.
"Because of the environmental and access limitations, we don't necessarily have a timeline for that," said Sonya Severo, city spokesperson.
The city's engineer has been in the reviewing process of how to fill the caves for months. One of the big challenges is that there are multiple jurisdictions along the river, and accessing them is difficult.
For now, the city's message to the community is to keep reporting when they see activity down in the caves.
Police and park rangers are also consistently doing patrols. The Modesto Police Department said they have groups that are working to get the homeless shelter.
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