Aerial support helps fight brush fire outside Cotati

Winds caused a brush fire to spread quickly Friday near Cotati, but firefighters extinguished the blaze before it could reach two homes a quarter-mile uphill.

The fire broke out right before 1 p.m. on the northeast side of the Stony Point Road and West Railroad Avenue intersection, Rancho Adobe Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Weihman said. The fire initially covered a quarter-acre of ranch land but spread within 10 minutes to 6 acres, he said.

“Shortly after we arrived there, the wind picked up quickly and it just started running,” Weihman said. “It was really moving.”

In addition to Rancho Adobe, Cal Fire and the Gold Ridge Fire Department responded to the call. Cal Fire also called in its aerial support to fight the blaze.

A Cal Fire officials said they sent in an air tactical aircraft, two air tankers and a helicopter. The crew was called out later around 1:30 p.m. to a 7-acre brush fire on Hot Springs Road near Lake Sonoma.

Weihman said Cal Fire’s aerial team “arrived in the nick of time” at the Cotati fire. The crew dumped a red slurry mix to slow down the fire as his men worked their way up the side of the fire, he said.

Cattle had been grazing on the property when the fire first broke out near the roadside. The Cal Fire helicopter scared the herd off to an adjacent field, keeping them safe, Weihman said.

Weihman said the cause of the fire is unknown.

He said the same field caught fire about eight years ago and burned about 30 acres that time. A faulty automobile exhaust caused that fire, Weihman said.

“The problem is you’ve got grass right up to the side of the road, and some of these are very heavy secondary-travel roads,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Eloísa Ruano González at 707-521-5458 or eloisa.gonzalez@pressdemocrat.com.