Firefighters in West Sacramento stop fast-moving 70-acre grass fire near CHP Academy
Firefighters extinguished a grass fire that burned about 70 acres over several hours Monday after wind gusts pushed the flames near the California Highway Patrol Academy in West Sacramento.
The grass fire began Monday morning near Old River Road and County Road 127, just north of the CHP Academy on Reed Avenue, West Sacramento Deputy Fire Chief Mark Cullison told The Sacramento Bee.
Cullison said strong north wind gusts drove the flames south at a rapid rate of speed, but the fire burned over vacant land and did not burn any buildings. He said flames did burn some power line poles, and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. crews were called to assess the damage.
By 3:30 p.m., firefighters had fully contained the fire, and there were no injuries reported, Cullison said.
Firefighters from the West Sacramento Fire Department and the Yolo County Task Force extinguished the blaze Monday. Cullison said the task force of firefighters is a state-funded countywide group that’s placed on standby on days in which strong winds are predicted. He said the Fire Department was requesting to have the task force on standby on Tuesday, as well.
Most of Northern California will remain under a National Weather Service red flag warning until 7 p.m. Tuesday as powerful wind gusts throughout the region continue to create dangerous wildfire conditions amid a still very dry landscape and relatively low humidity levels.
Fire and weather officials warned residents to be cautious while outdoors as wind gusts can cause a wildfire to quickly spread or down power lines or tree limbs.
In Sacramento County on Monday, a wind-driven grass fire created concerns for firefighters as flames pushed against the runway at the Rancho Murieta Airport, according to the Cal Fire Amador-El Dorado Unit. The Murieta Fire burned about 5 acres of grass but did not threaten buildings or vehicles.
Also on Monday afternoon, the Sacramento Fire Department extinguished two grass fires, including one near the 3600 block of West River Drive in which flames burned on both sides of a sound wall separating Interstate 80 and a residential neighborhood. The other grass fire was extinguished along the southbound lanes of Interstate 5, south of Metro Air Parkway.
