Tractor Mower Sparks 10 Acre Blaze at Stanford University in California
The employee was working in the foothills at 11 a.m. when his tractor's mower blade hit a rock, said Palo Alto fire battalion chief Don Dudak. The resulting spark triggered a fire.
``It's just a fluke,'' Dudak said.
Firefighters quelled the flames in 35 minutes after they consumed about 10 acres; Stanford officials estimate the fire charred only six acres. No people or structures were harmed. The popular Dish hiking trail was closed but opened again by 12:15 p.m., said university spokesman Ray Delgado.
Stanford will investigate the fire, but no one will be disciplined if it was an accident, said Herb Fong, grounds manager for the university's facilities operations.
It is the second time in 30 years a tractor mower started a fire at Stanford, Fong said. After the first time, around the 1970s, the department equipped all its mowers with fire extinguishers.
Fong did not know if his employee tried to put out the fire himself. He was not required to. ``We ask them to take precautions,'' Fong said, ``but we're not going to ask them to be a fireman.''
Grass will return to the charred area by next spring, Fong said. The fire cleared out dry growth, creating a firebreak after all.
``From that standpoint,'' Fong said, ``it's good to have burns.''
