A wind-whipped grass fire ignited Wednesday afternoon in Suisun City, burning several homes and a wildlife center, and prompting evacuations during the latest in a string of blazes reported in the Solano County town.
The fire was started before 3:30 p.m. in heavy vegetation behind a wildlife center on Kellogg Street, according to Suisun City Fire Chief Justin Vincent. He said four houses were completely destroyed, four had exterior and interior damage and three had exterior damage. There also was significant damage to the Suisun Wildlife Center. No homes were threatened as of 8:15 p.m.
Vincent said that when he arrived five or six employees were running back into the wildlife center to save the animals. Eventually, firefighters used bolt cutters to cut the locks on cages and free as many animals as they could. Some owls that were unable to fly died, he said.
An evacuation center was established at Crystal Middle School at 400 Whispering Bay Lane, Suisun City police said.
At least 20 acres have been burned by the fire, which was still burning on the wildland side at 8:15 p.m. At its peak, 200 firefighters fought the blaze in triple-digit temperatures, Vincent said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Suisun City, with fewer than 30,000 people near Fairfield, has recently seen a sharp increase in fire activity, according to Vincent. More than seven fires have burned in the city in the past week, not including Wednesday’s blaze, he said. All but one were vegetation fires.
From Jan. 1 to June 1 last year, Suisun City had 24 fires, Vincent said. Forty-eight fires burned in the city before Wednesday.
“This would be No. 49,” Vincent said.
Part of the year-over-year increase can be attributed to homeless encampments, the fire chief said. But arson may also be partly to blame.
“Some of them are being pursued as arson,” Vincent said of the most recent fire activity. “It’s too early for us to tell if (Wednesday’s fire) is linked to any one of those or if this is arson.”
J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
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June 04, 2020 at 01:09PM
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Grass fire breaks out in Suisun City, homes and a wildlife center burn - San Francisco Chronicle
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