5.5-acre vegetation fire near Sebastopol city limits contained

A small vegetation fire burning near Sebastopol is contained, according to fire officials. The fire burned about 5.5 acres of mowed grass on a property owned and maintained by the city of Santa Rosa, according to Paul Lowenthal, assistant fire marshal of the Santa Rosa Fire Department.

The fire is now being “mopped up” and patrolled, with remaining hotspots getting extinguished, he said. The fire’s cause is yet to be determined, Lowenthal said when he updated SoCoNews near 5 p.m.

The fire began on Wednesday afternoon, June 23, around 1:50 p.m. The spread of the fire stopped at 2:36 p.m. and was contained as of 3:07 p.m.

The fire didn’t result in any evacuation orders.

“As far as the crow flies from Sebastopol, it was just over a tenth of a mile outside of town. Basically right across, if you’re looking for a landmark, right across from the park,” CalFire Division Chief Ben Nicholls said, referring to Laguna de Santa Rosa as estimated off his map. 

Shortly before 3 p.m., Sebastopol Fire Chief Bill Braga said that the fire had not breached city limits and is instead in the county’s territory.

The city of Santa Rosa Fire Department was the leading agency on the fire, since it owns an island of property associated with Laguna Water Treatment Plant. 

Sebastopol Fire Department had sent one engine and three firefighters to assist, Braga said.

According to Nicholls, CalFire assigned two air tankers and a helicopter to assist the effort.

Other departments responding included the Santa Rosa Fire Department, Gold Ridge Fire Department, Sebastopol Fire Department and Graton Fire Department.

This is a developing story.