Fire reportedly ignited by unattended homeless camp, one in custody
For the second time in less than 24 hours, firefighters from the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District and additional nearby agencies have been on scene of a fast moving vegetation in the southern area of Rancho Cordova Monday afternoon.
Now named the Douglass Fire, Monday’s fire broke out at 3:06 p.m. Monday in the area of Douglass Road and Sunrise Boulevard in Rancho Cordova. The fire is burning in an area near just west of the communities of Anatolia and Sunridge Park and east of Mather.
Firefighters on the ground are being assisted by air support. As of 5:30 p.m. the fire had grown in size to a mapped 284 acres and grew to 585 acres by 7:00 p.m.. There have been no reports of structure damage or evacuation needs as of yet.
The fire is continuing to out-flank firefighters and continuing to push fast to the south, per radio traffic from incident command. Over 30 units have been dispatched to the scene, in additional to Sac Metro, Cosumnes Fire, Cal Fire and Folsom engines are providing mutual aid. An arson investigation unit has also been dispatched to the scene.
The fire is burning up towards the Mather Golf Course on the western flank and has reportedly jumped the canal on the eastern side. Firefighters are utilizing dozers to cut a line around the permitter of the fire.
Traffic on southbound Sunrise Boulevard is being diverted to eastbound Douglas Road. Northbound Sunrise Boulevard is closed from Douglas Road to Jackson Road.
The fire is in close proximity to the Jackson Fire that burned 900 acres Sunday afternoon into early Monday morning. Firefighters are busy across the region Monday with additional fires near Interstate 80 in Sacramento as well as Rio Linda, Calaveras and Manteca where evacuations were called for Monday afternoon.
as of 6:39 p.m. Monday an update reported that firefighters had halted forward progress on the fire. Authorities expect to reopen Sunrise Boulevard by 7:00 p.m. as mop up and full containment will not involve the roadway.
Blaze reportedly started at homeless camp
Later in the day, fire officials reported that the cause of the blaze was reportedly a fire left unattended at a homeless encampment that originally ignited the fire.
“The fire originated in an unattended camp fire at a homeless encampment along the levee,” Metro Fire released in a statement. “The person that initiated the fire has been located and placed in custody by a Metro Fire investigator and rangers with Sacramento County Regional Parks.”
The individual taken into custody faces charges of reckless burning.
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