Arson Suspected In Palo Alto Park Fire
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) -- A grass fire that burned Wednesday at the Enid W. Pearson Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto remains under investigation, but police believe it is a case of arson.
The fire, which was reported shortly after 4 p.m., burned 3 to 4 acres of open land near 1529 Arastradero Road.
Twenty minutes into the fire, a bicyclist notified a firefighter
that he had seen a suspicious person near the scene, police said.
Palo Alto police detained a man who matched the description given by the bicyclist. The individual was later released, but Palo Alto police are continuing their criminal investigation.
Cal Fire, the Santa Clara County Fire Department and the Woodside
Fire Protection District all helped Palo Alto firefighters battle the blaze.
Police said investigators later determined that a total of five small fires had been intentionally set in the area.
No structures burned and no injuries were reported.
Hiking trails in the Arastradero preserve are back open to the public.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call dispatch at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org, or sent by text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
Police are also trying to locate the bicyclist who reported the suspicious person.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed)
