Homeless Camp Site of Small Fire Along 101 in Novato

personnel made a large response to a small fire Monday afternoon at the Atherton Avenue offramp of Highway 101 just because the conditions are right — or wrong — for a quick-spreading vegetation fire.

Four engines were dispatched at 1:50 p.m. to the northbound offramp of 101 at Atherton where an ambulance crew from a medical call reported a grass fire, Battalion Chief Gerald McCarthy said. The strip of land between the offramp and the Armstrong Avenue park-and-ride lot burned, but crews held the blackened portion to .09 acre, he said. The crews arrived at 1:55 p.m. and declared it contained at 2:03 p.m., McCarthy said.

District spokeswoman Sandy Wargo said a homeless encampment in the area is suspected to be the source of the fire. McCarthy said the fire was suspicious in nature and evidence was filed by . McCarthy said the cause remains under investigation.

Wargo said the blaze was only about 50 feet by 50 feet, but the large response was warranted.

“With the dry weather and winds, something small can quickly become something big,” she said. “People want to know why there are so many engines, but it’s a lot easier to cancel more help than it is to call it in too late. As soon as the first engine got on scene at this one, they called in to cancel additional help.”