Point Reyes Light - October 30, 2003

Two days of fires in Nicasio

By Ivan Gale

As wildfires in Southern California burned more than half a million acres this week, West Marin firefighters were called to two smaller, but potentially serious, wildland fires in Nicasio Monday and Tuesday.

Thanks to a quick response from firefighters, as well as helicopter dousing the fire, a blaze reported at 2:33 p.m. Monday northeast of Four Corners burned only four acres although the flames had begun to race up Rocky Hill’s steep slopes.

The origin of the fire, which began along the Point Reyes-Petaluma Road, is unknown. Because of the terrain, firefighters had to lay hoses for half a mile and needed an hour to contain the blaze.

The helicopter continued dumping water on smoldering embers until after 5:30 p.m. while more than a dozen firefighters and a bulldozer combed the steep hill for hot spots.

The fire took place at Four Corners on the Calvin Dolcini ranch were firefighters had to put out a small grass fire last month. That fire spread to within a few hundred acres of a home being remodeled by Calvin’s son Brian and Brian’s wife Heather.

At 3:38 p.m. Tuesday, a truck spreading manure may have caused the eight-acre grassfire on the Randy Lafranchi and James Rogers ranches along Nicasio Valley Road.

In any case the powerlines fell to the ground in two places and blacked out 10,000 homes and businesses from West Marin and Novato to Sausalito.

Although Marin County deputy fire chief Rich Lopez told The Light on Wednesday the cause of the fire is unknown, he said a fertilizer truck may have backed into the guy wire for a power pole on the Rogers ranch. With the stressed guy wire pulling the pole, the power lines may have stretched and broke, he explained.

When the wires fell to the ground, they started grass fires on both the Rogers ranch and the Lafranchi ranch a few hundred yards away.

The fire at the Lafranchi dairy charred nearly eight acres before being contained while the fire at the Rogers ranch fire did not spread far beyond the utility pole where the power lines hit the ground.

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