Suspicious Activity Investigated After Fire Damages 2 South Sacramento Homes
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A grass fire that quickly spread to a nearby neighborhood burned two homes in south Sacramento Sunday afternoon.
Flames spread quickly and smoke enveloped the area as nearby residents began to evacuate.
"They had no idea the house was on fire," said resident Traveena Lal.
Lal described her brother-in-law and his family's sudden realization it was time to get out.
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"The house was on fire when they realized that it was about to burn down, so they grabbed their kids and ran out," Lal said.
Sacramento Fire crews were initially called out to a grass fire along Jacinto Avenue in south Sacramento just after 4 p.m., but crews found the fire was spreading quickly.
Winds, low humidity and dry grass became a destructive combination. The fire spread through a fence, threatening a whole neighborhood of homes behind it.
A two-alarm fire turned to three.
"In all, we had about 90 firefighters respond to this fire," said Rusty Van Vuren, a battalion chief with the Sacramento Fire Department.
Firefighters say they managed to save three homes but couldn't save two, which they say have moderate to extensive damage. There were no injuries.
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"It could have been worse," Van Vuren said.
Firefighters don't know what caused this fire, but they are looking into reports from neighbors who saw what they call suspicious activity just before the fire broke out.
"We have a report from a civilian that there were some kids in the area and that they may be suspects as to the cause of the fire," Van Vuren said.
Van Vuren said it wasn't the first time firefighters have been called out to this field. They were called out to another fire there last year; a fire that damaged a fence but didn't reach any homes.