Sacramento City Fire Department Press Release:
Date/Time of Occurrence: August 18, 2003 , 5:28 p.m.
At 5:28 p.m. the Sacramento Fire Department responded to a report of a wildland fire south of CalEXPO in the Bushy Lake area of the American River Parkway. Due to the large column of smoke visible from several miles the first due Company Officer from Engine 19 called for additional equipment to assist with suppressing the blaze.
Once on scene Engine 19 found a fast moving wildland fire burning from the bike trail to the north where there were dozens of vehicles in the vendor parking for the California State Fair. The fire was burning in heavy grass, star thistle, berries and shrub oaks with light amounts of large cottonwood trees. The wind carried ashes and sparks of fire ahead of the flame front. This fire behavior caused what is known as spotting ahead the main body of fire. The vehicles were parked in a field that had been mowed and fire brands were igniting small fires within the aisles and under the parked cars.
A second alarm was called at 5:41 and a third alarm was called 6:05 p.m. This brought a total of 9 Grass Engines with their assigned Engine Companies to the fire.
Coincidently some fire equipment was staged and available as a static display the the State Fair for First Responder Day including Sacramento Metro Fire's Helicopter, Copter 1. Copter 1 and Engine 23 responded to the incident as additional equipment. With the water taken from the American River dropped from the helicopter and the ground units attacking the fire that had spread to ten acres, Fire Fighters were able to keep the fire from damaging nearly all of the vehicles in the parking lot. One vehicle did suffer a flat tire due to the fire. Although a damage estimate is difficult to place on the fire, hundreds of thousands of dollars in vehicle valuation were saved by Fire Fighters.
The fire cause is still under investigation but is a human caused fire. This means the cause could be accidental such as careless smoking or caused by arson, neither of which has been ruled out.
The response included 12 Engines, eight with their Grass Engines, one helicopter, three Battalion Chiefs, and over 18 support personnel for a total of 60 Fire Fighters for the initial attack. Additional Fire Fighters will rotate to the scene through the night mopping up. The fire is contained and controlled but will not be declared out until after the burn period tomorrow, 8/19/03, at around 7:00 p.m.
No structures were threatened but an evacuation of Lot Z, the vendor lot, was called for in order for Fire Fighters to gain access to the dozens of small spot fires in the lot.
Incident Commander: Acting Battalion Chief Lloyd Ogan
First-In Company: Engine 19
Cause: Undetermined but human caused
Dollar Loss: $50.00
Time To Control: 6 hours
Incident Duration: Ongoing
Total No. of Engine Companies: 12
Total No. of Command and Support Staff: 16
Total No. of Fire Companies: 13
Total No. of Firefighters: 60
Contact: Captain Dave Whitt, Phone: 916-433-1621
Email: [email protected]
