Cigarette butt to blame for 300-acre grass fire in Solano Co, fire chief says

SOLANO COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- A cigarette butt is to blame for a fire in Solano County that burned 300 acres Monday afternoon, according to the Suisun City fire chief.

It happened in Suisun City as the Red Flag Warning and Wind advisories were in effect.

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Flames could first be seen around 2 p.m. on Peterson Road and west of Walters Road. At one point the fire jumped Highway 12 burning mostly marsh land according to fire crews.

Monday night, firefighters in Solano County could be seen monitoring hot spots after flames tore through a field less than a quarter of a mile from homes in Suisun City on Monday afternoon.

"I had a six-year-old and three-year-old in the house at the time and I was really worried about them just trying to keep them calm," says Ryan Dela Cruz who lives nearby.

Cruz took pictures from his upstairs window. He watched as multiple agencies responded on the ground and in the air. Working a fire that quickly grew from five to 300 acres and sent smoke into Contra Costa County.

Residents in Walnut Creek and Concord reported seeing smoke.

Suisun City Fire Chief Justin Vincent says winds were a major issue here, just as they have been.

"The winds last night were dropping power lines and wreaking havoc on Solano County," says Chief Vincent.

This fire though wasn't caused by power lines according to the chief.

"We did find a half burned cigarette butt that was indicative of the start of this fire," says Chief Vincent. Something that is frustrating to those whose homes were in eyesight of the flames. "It's frustrating to hear that especially in this area at this time of year," says Cruz.

On top of that there was an accident as vehicles along Highway 12 drove into the smoke and crashed. The chief says it was a minor wreck but their crews had to help rescue people from smoke. Everyone is okay, no structures burned, and the fire was soon controlled. There's now a hope that what happened here doesn't happen again.