Fire crews are seen working on a grass fire in the American River Parkway in Sacramento, Calif., on Sunday, June 6, 2021. The brush fire charred between 75 and 100 acres and sent large plumes of smoke into the air. SACRAMENTO FIRE DEPARTMENT
A brush fire with a slow rate of spread ignited along the American River Parkway in Sacramento on Sunday afternoon, pouring smoke into the air.
The Sacramento Fire Department was called to the parkway south of Cal Expo just before 3 p.m. In a social media update. Fire officials said the fire was burning moderate amounts of grassy fuels but was spreading slowly.
A large column of gray smoke appeared in the area. Smoke was visible and could be smelled from Arden Way. As of 3:15 p.m., firefighters were working to contain the blaze.
By 5 p.m., the fire had grown to about 75 to 100 acres wide, according to department spokesman Capt. Keith Wade. In an 8 p.m. update, authorities said that fire crews and dozers remained on scene building containment lines.
“It probably won’t get much bigger than that,” Wade said. The growth of the fire was relatively slow thanks to a lack of strong winds in the area, he said.
No injuries were reported and no structures were in harm’s way. Wade said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but added that “there’s human activity most likely at play.”
There have been several grass fires in the American River Parkway in the past few weeks as temperatures climb across the Sacramento region. On Wednesday evening, two separate grass fires started in the lower parkway, one around 10-15 acres and the other about 20 acres.
There was also a fire in the parkway last weekend.
Wade said that fires sometimes originate in the homeless encampments along the parkway, either accidentally or intentionally, but determining exact causes or identifying suspects often proves difficult.