Firefighters contained a small vegetation fire dubbed the Neeley Fire near Guerneville Thursday evening, Sept. 2.
Ben Nicholls, fire chief of the CalFire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, said that no one was injured, nor were any structures damaged. Approximately 1.1 acres burned in the 16220 Neeley Road area, south of the Russian River.
Calls rang in around 5:24 p.m. and CalFire took the lead, assisted by Sonoma County Fire District and the Monte Rio Fire Protection District, according to the fire chief.Â
CalFire responded in full with an air attack plane and an air tanker from its Sonoma Air Attack Base at the Sonoma County Airport and a Fire Hawk helicopter also headed to the scene to drop retardant and water as needed, he said.
The breakout comes mere days after Guerneville and Monte Rio residents took to the Aug. 31 Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting calling for action to address homelessness issues in west county, stating unhoused people have been starting fires in the woods.
Cyndi Foreman, fire marshal of the Sonoma County Fire District (SCFD), said that while the SCFD responds to fires in the Guerneville and Rio Nido area, the authority to investigate the cause of the fire sits with CalFire since the fire occurred in the state responsibility area. Nicholls said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, and couldn’t give an estimate of when the cause might be determined.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect a new acre size for the fire.
