Lynchburg, VA - Another cold night means another night of worry for residents living in the Brentwood Mobile Home Park in Lynchburg. Police say the park's abandoned trailers make for an ideal setting for squatters trying to get warm by lighting fires inside.

Officials say that's what started a trailer fire Friday morning and residents of Brentwood fear there's more to come. After this fire, there aren’t any signs of extra security out there and it's not to hard to break in to these empty trailers either. Many of these trailers only have a few thin pieces of plywood serving as a door or window. Neighbors hope these break-ins don't bring more fires, or worse.

Maureen O'Malley, Thought Fire Would Spread - "I heard a boom and then this trailer got really hot."

The heat from this trailer fire forced Maureen O'Malley from her home just across the street.

O'Malley - "Flames were just shooting out there, they were shooting at us this way. All underneath."

Fire fighters say vagrants used the trailer as a shelter and a makeshift fireplace someone built accidentally set it on fire. Investigators say it's common for homeless people to live in empty trailers.

Greg Wormser, Lynchburg Fire Marshal -"There are people who don't seek out a regular shelter like the Salvation Army or the Daily Bread or places like that, and they find their own shelter and they make their own way."

Jesse Dolinger, Fed Up With Squatters - "That one's empty. That green one right there is empty."

Though he's never seen a break-in, Jesse Dolinger says squatters make their own way into Brentwood's empty trailers too often.

Dolinger - "All these doors on these trailers when you get you get up in the morning are flapping. You can tell the front doors are sitting wide open."

Damewood - "That some one was in there."

Dolinger - "Somebody has been in there."

This trailer across the street from Dolinger's is vacant, and it looks like someone tried to pry the door open.

Dolinger - "If you want to get in them and stay warm, the only thing you have to do is go in from the back or kick that front door down."

That ease of access is unsettling to neighbors.

Dolinger - "You don't know who's coming in here. It could be a murderer. You do not know."

O'Malley - "I would just be petrified."

Officials say it's the owner's responsibility to make sure people don't break in to these trailers. We weren't able to reach to owner of the trailer park, but workers were out here earlier this afternoon putting up plywood to secure some of these empty trailers.

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