Wildfire sweeps Angel Island

ANGEL ISLAND — From Angel Island, where 381 firefighters raged a battle with flames that encompassed half the island’s 750 acres Monday, smoke and steam produced a mirage-like glimmer of Alcatraz and the San Francisco skyline.

Fire crews here, however, had few moments Monday afternoon to take in the spectacular view from the island, a state park located in the San Francisco Bay and tied to Marin County.

Their attention instead focused on the gray ash now covering nearly half of the Bay Area landmark.

With the fire 75 percent contained and full containment expected Monday evening, fire crews raked through the ash and spread water on the most active hot spots, watching to make sure no land reignited.

State Parks spokesman Roy Sterns called the blaze a “one-day fire” though earlier in the morning officials had predicted a long and hard fight.

Safe were 29 campers, 8 of them children, evacuated from their campsites on the island’s east side where the fire began. The island’s deer and other animals were able to find safe haven on the island’s fire-free west side, Stern said.

Most important, Sterns said, was the rescue of all of the island’s 120 historic buildings, the most famous of which dates back to the Civil War era and the island’s period as an immigration center.

Officials said they had no idea what caused the fire:

“Until our cops tell me something it will just be speculation,” Sterns said. He did not rule out the possibility that a campfire on the island caused the blaze. Campfires are not allowed on the island, which is a fire-free zone.