A five-acre brush fire that blazed about 150 yards up a hillside behind the upper campus of the Lagunitas School District was caused by a model rocket blown off-course last Friday afternoon, endangering a couple of nearby houses and startling staff, parents and students who were gathered for the school’s annual Halloween carnival. Just before 2 p.m., the fire spread west to east toward Nicasio Valley Road and the San Geronimo Golf Course, burning a wide swath of grass and brush. Around 70 Marin County Fire Department personnel—including 34 inmates overseen by CALFire—had mostly contained the fire by 4 p.m., with three CALFire planes accompanied by a helicopter dousing the flames with fire retardant. Crews monitored the area overnight to prevent flare-ups. According to school Superintendent John Carroll, the fire resulted from a parent who shot off an ordinary model rocket that could have been purchased at any hobby shop. “It was done completely outside the purview of the school,” he said. Mr. Carroll noted that the fire sparked along the same hill where fire department crews often perform routine containment training. “So they were very much on their home turf,” he said. Fire Chief Jason Weber cautioned residents and visitors to remain vigilant when handling combustible materials such as model rockets, particularly in light of the state’s ongoing drought. He pointed to a large brush fire that raged in January of 2014 that was started by Chinese lanterns—which are banned in California—as a recent example of a preventable, careless conflagration. “Unfortunately, it’s somewhat common we have these incidents,” Chief Weber said. “Ninety-nine percent of the fires in the county are human-caused. This was an accident, although it was avoidable.” He pegged the cost for the state to run out the aircrafts at $28,000. One firefighter sustained a minor knee injury.