Residents of a north-side homeless camp will be ordered Tuesday to vacate five makeshift huts the city has declared unfit for occupancy, Des Moines officials said at a press conference this evening.

The action comes after a Monday morning fire destroyed one of the shanties and caused minor injuries to an unidentified homeless man who was sleeping inside at the time.

The huts are “literally a set of tinder boxes,” Mayor Frank Cownie said. “It’s a very dangerous situation down there.”

City officials said crews could begin dismantling the shacks shortly after their residents are ordered to leave them Tuesday.

“The city is going to act expeditiously to have them removed,” Fire Chief Phillip Vorlander said. “They are on city property.”

Today's fire started before 9 a.m. when the man who was sleeping inside the hut accidentally kicked over a propane heater and set the shack ablaze.

The man reportedly told city officials that he woke up on fire. Five huts remained after the fire.

Assistant City Manager Chris Johansen said city officials will help the eight or so individuals who live in the camp near 1400 Michigan St. find emergency shelter for the short-term.

Cownie said they’re sensitive to the difficult situation the hut dwellers face, but they cannot risk having another fire or similar emergency at the camp.

“We are very concerned about the continued occupation of these,” he said.

Vorlander said the highly fire-prone huts, which have wood-burning stoves in them, pose risks not only to their occupants, but the firefighters and public safety officials who would have to respond to any future emergencies.

Cownie stressed that additional efforts are afoot to provide better services and more long-term housing options for homeless residents. He has called for “prevention and intervention” to properly address the homeless issue.

Officials from local homeless shelters recently estimated upwards of 200 people camp along the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers in similar settlements.

Vorlander said city personnel will begin to search for other riverside shacks that have wood-burning stoves and other flammable heating sources.

Johansen said he believes the city and David Costello, the local activist who helped construct the huts, have an agreement that no more will be built.