Michele Knutson sits among her possessions Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, as she gets ready to leave the St. Paul camp she has lived in for the past year. Knutson was one of over 40 people the city of St. Paul evicted from the homeless encampment located near the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary.

Dozens lived in the encampment near Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, which was torn down Thursday due to growing safety concerns.

Since that encampment went up in August of 2023, city leaders say police have responded to more than 400 calls there, and 50 calls for fire and medical help.

Against bone-chilling cold, Jose Ismael squatted next to a makeshift campfire within the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary in St. Paul on Wednesday, contemplating where he and dozens of others living in the sprawling tent encampment around him would end up the next day.

Crews are at work Thursday shutting down one of St. Paul’s largest homeless encampments near the Bruce Vento Homeless Sanctuary. St. Paul city officials are shutting it down for what they say are safety reasons.

The city of St. Paul on Thursday is working to clear a homeless encampment near the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary. As previously reported, the “process of closing the encampment” began on Jan. 7, according to a city spokesperson.

On Thursday, city crews cleared the encampment by Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, citing concerns over safety, fire danger and cleanliness.