ANDERSON — A new living situation for some of Anderson’s homeless cropped up last month when a man living in an encampment in a wooded area near downtown was burned in his tent.

The incident drew attention to the encampment, which city officials and police had not been aware of before, and now local homeless agencies are trying to come up with a way to reach the men who live there.

“We have been looking for the homeless,” said local Homeless Task Force President Kent South. “This is shocking to me. This is very new, it’s not something continual.”

Mary Jo Lee, director of Anderson shelter Alternatives Inc. said local homeless agencies have seen families living on campgrounds, in cars and in vacant houses, but never in a self-made wooded encampment.

The site, dubbed “Tent City,” sits on property along the White River just northeast of Fire Station No. 1 at Jackson and Fifth streets. It is unclear is the property is city-owned or owned by a nearby garage owner.

City officials plan a trip to the site to find out more about who lives there and what can be done to help them. Anderson Police Department Detective Mitch Carroll said the site includes three tents and no more than two people living there.

Carroll said the department doesn’t deal with the homeless on a regular basis.

“We encounter the homeless on only an occasional basis and most usually by complaint,” Carroll wrote in an e-mail. “While we occasionally encounter individuals who claim to be homeless, many appear to be homeless by choice, meaning that they have run afoul of the rules and/or code of conduct of their former place of residence. Most often, this involves alcohol or other substance abuse issues.”

Carroll wrote that the police department had good relationships with local homeless agencies that offer temporary shelter.

Susie Kemp of Bridges Community Services in Muncie said she had seen a tent city in Lafayette where homeless agencies had put out informational card on where those living there could find food and shelter. Beyond that, agencies don’t have much recourse.

“I don’t think the city can be surprised if they say they don’t want help,” she said. “They actually may not want to be living there, but that’s where their situation dictates they are. It’s not a safe situation.”

Kemp said tent cities often pop up along riverbanks because the property often is public and the homeless can use the river for washing clothes and bathing.