Grass fire rattles residential Boyes

A mid-afternoon grass fire in a residential neighborhood near Sonoma raised clouds of white smoke over the neighborhoods off Siesta Way on Friday, June 11. Multiple fire trucks responded to the vicinity and collected at the cul-de-sac end of Barcelona Drive, where a vegetation fire had been reported at 3:50 p.m.

According to Battalion Chief Sean Lacy of the Sonoma Valley Fire District, the response drew eight engines “and a full wildland response from Cal Fire.” The yellow-jacketed firefighters quickly contained the affected area, extinguishing the main blaze and mopping up the hot spots one by one.

The fire was contained to the grassland behind the Barcelona Drive homes, in a small undeveloped part of Agua Caliente creek. The vegetation was burned black but the fire didn’t seem to get hot enough to ignite the trees. The homes overlooking the small canyon were unaffected except by the heavy smoke.

“We were able to contain the fire to about a half-acre of grass, and the cause is under investigation,” said Lacy. The fire response was completed by 5:30.

When asked if fireworks might have caused the fire, Lacy said, “We’re looking into every possibility there is, and we’ve got investigators working on that now.” He could not say how long such an investigation might take.