Update: 3 Small Novato Fires Keep Crews Busy

Novato firefighters didn’t get much of a break Wednesday, taking care of three fires in a five-hour span. Luck was all the good variety: No firefighters or citizens were injured and no structures were seriously threatened as fires were handled near , in Ignacio and in Black Point.

One of the fires — on a hillside in Ignacio — was considered suspicious, said Battalion Chief Mark Heine of the .

Firefighters extinguished a brush fire behind the hospital on Wednesday morning and pinpointed the cause to a large commercial lawnmower that was being used in the area, a fire spokesman said.

Four engines and a total of 13 personnel responded after the call was made at 10:45 a.m. in a spot just behind the hospital’s emergency room, the source said. About half an acre burned before the fire was put out in about 13 minutes.

The area that burned was in a triangular area between the railroad tracks, a paved path and the hospital parking lot, which helped prevent it from spreading, the source said.

The smoke was seen over a wide area, including by passing motorists on Highway 101.

Heine said residents are encouraged to use extra caution when cutting grass with a mower or weedeater because the grass and brush have quickly dried as a result of the recent heat and wind. Mowing should be done in the early morning to reduce the potential for a wildfire to start, he said.

The second fire was reported at 3:07p.m. at the top of a hill behind Rowe Ranch Drive in Ignacio. Firefighters reached the blaze from a fire road and on foot and put out in 50 minutes.  The fire burned a half acre of grass, brush and oak trees.

Seven engine companies, a water tender, a bulldozer, two chief officers and the Tamalpais Fire Crew responded, Heine said.

The cause of the fire was undetermined but suspicious, Heine said, because it started a away from any road or structure.

The third fire was reported at 4:31 p.m. and burned a small patch of grass next to a  driveway on Hillside Terrace in Black Point. Four engine companies, one paramedic unit and one chief officer responded. The cause was determined to be discarded oil soaked rags in a plastic garbage can. Heine said residents need to be reminded that oily rags exposed to heat can ignite.