Woodacre, CA – A wildland fire charred half an acre of the Cascade Canyon Open Space Preserve in the hills west of Fairfax on Wednesday afternoon but was pounced on by about 80 firefighters and muffled by air tanker bombardment before it could be fanned by stiff winds.
Mark Brown, Deputy Chief of the Marin County Fire Department (MCFD), said the fire had reached 50 percent containment by 9 p.m. and he expected 100 percent containment by 8 a.m. Thursday. There were no injuries and no structures were threatened.
Crews from MCFD stations, the MCFD Tam Fire Crew, Ross Valley Fire Department, Larkspur Fire Department and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (Calfire) fought the blaze first reported at 4:21 p.m. The location was off Wagon Wheel Trail and the Blue Ridge Fire Road, and winds were from the northwest at about 10-15 mph. The California Highway Patrol briefly closed Fairfax-Bolinas Road south of downtown Fairfax as a precaution, halting traffic between the Meadow Club and the Deer Park Fire Road.
The first firefighters on the scene, about eight of them, were dropped off at 5 p.m. by a Calfire helicopter, and the Tam Fire Crew followed shortly thereafter. Battalion Chief Bret McTigue said it would take a while for firefighters to reach the flames on foot because of the remote location and hilly terrain. The combination of Calfire air tankers dropping retardant and the ridgeline blocking the stiff winds kept the fire from spreading quickly.
Personnel from the Marin County Open Space District and the Marin Municipal Water District also aided in the response.
Cascade Canyon Open Space Preserve, overseen by Marin County Parks, incorporates 504 acres of some of the most pristine habitat in the Corte Madera Creek watershed. Cascade Falls, at the head of the main canyon, is a popular destination during the wet season.