Santa Rosa firefighters douse blaze that started at homeless camp

A Thursday morning fire at the site of a hotel destroyed in the 2017 Tubbs Fire began at a homeless camp, officials said.

The one tent at the camp was destroyed. It was the second Santa Rosa fire this week that started at a homeless camp.

The fire was reported just before 9 a.m. at the site of the burned Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel on Round Barn Boulevard.

The blaze spread through about a quarter-acre of grass, shrubs and trees, according to Paul Lowenthal, Santa Rosa’s division chief fire marshal. He said firefighters got it under control in about 20 minutes.

No buildings were damaged and nobody was hurt.

Investigators were unable to determine what caused the fire because the area was badly burned, but they traced its origin to the camp, according to Lowenthal. He said authorities did not find anybody at the camp.

The fire burned into an area where the Santa Rosa Fire Department did a prescribed burn last month. The recently burned area helped stop the fire’s spread, Lowenthal said.

“That showed the success of why we do projects like that,“ Lowenthal said.

On Monday, a fire on a city-owned parcel in southwest Santa Rosa began at a homeless camp, officials said. The blaze did not damage any buildings but it destroyed the tent at the camp. The cause was undetermined.

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Pera at matthew.pera@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Matt__Pera.