Santa Rosa firefighters extinguish fire at homeless camp along trail

Firefighters put out a small grass fire Tuesday morning at a homeless camp along the Santa Rosa Creek Trail, the same pedestrian and bike path where several brush fires were set last month.

Firefighters responded to the latest blaze around 6 a.m., when an employee at the nearby Imwalle Gardens on West Third Street noticed the fire and called for help, Santa Rosa Fire Battalion Chief Matt Dahl said. An inspection of the fire site led to no clues about what started the fire, he said.

“The fire was in the encampment, spread to a ?50-foot spot and went up a eucalyptus tree,” Dahl said.

Firefighters put out the blaze after accessing it from behind the garden. The encampment wasn’t occupied at the time, but firefighters did see a sleeping pad and other belongings at the site, Dahl said.

It was not clear how many people were living there, and only some of the items left in the camp were damaged. No nearby homes were threatened by the fire, which crews extinguished within about ?30 minutes, Dahl said.

Santa Rosa firefighters responded to the same portion of the trail on June 16, when 13 small brush fires sparked there and about a mile south, along the railroad tracks between Hearn and Barham avenues.

Unlike Tuesday’s incident, the department deemed those fires suspicious and said they were likely linked, given the short time frame between when they started and the absence of electrical or gas outlets in the area.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department later arrested Domingo ?Bautista-Bautista, described as a 51-year-old homeless man, on suspicion of starting those fires.

Bautista was additionally suspected of setting four fires along the Joe Rodota Trail in Graton near Occidental Road two days earlier. Authorities said they believe he rode the trails on his bicycle and used a lighter to start the fires.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@nashellytweets.