Fire east of Grayson burning grassland along San Joaquin River

GRAYSON — A suspicious fire that started Tuesday afternoon and was expected to burn until 9 p.m. left 500 acres of grassland west of the San Joaquin River charred and smoldering, authorities said.

The fire jumped the river in the late afternoon, requiring local firefighters to make an attack on flames that burned another 100 acres east of the river. By 8 p.m., that fire was just 50 percent contained, authorities said.

The fire started at about 3 p.m. in the San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge, which is east of River Road and north of Grayson, said Stanislaus County sheriff's spokesman Royjindar Singh.

It crackled through tall brush and grassland, leaving wide swaths of land covered with thick black ash. The fire engulfed trees, bursting their dry leaves into flames before they shimmered to the ground.

"Our main concern is if the fire were to burn to the west," said Division Chief Steve Hall of the Patterson Fire District. "We have Grayson southwest of here."

Firefighters used a technique called backburning to control the fire, he said.

"We can't stop it," Hall said. "There's too much fire in the trees. So we let it burn to an area that has less fuel. Then we set our own fire. The main fire sucks ours in and that eliminates the fuel. It stops the momentum."

Small animals ran from the flames. Fire Chief Mike Lara of the Westley Fire District saw a 15-pound bobcat dart away from fire near the river.

"I was walking in and he was running out," Lara said. "I've seen a lot of coyotes down here but not usually bobcats."

Rabbits dashed across dirt roads to escape the flames. Hall said the rabbits can be firefighters' "worst enemies" when they catch fire. They bound across the roads that rescue workers rely on to stop the flames, spreading embers to vulnerable areas.

The fire burned slowly but insistently through light grasses, dead logs and dry trees. The roof of an old barn collapsed at about 5 p.m. when flames devoured the wooden building. No other structures were believed to be threatened, authorities said.

Firefighters from Patterson, Westley, El Solyo, Newman, Mountain View, Ceres, Turlock Rural and the Fish and Wildlife Service worked throughout the afternoon and into the night to contain the fire. Hall estimated they would be working until at least 10 p.m.

Modesto fire investigator Ron Keyes said the fire appeared to have been set in at least four places. He hadn't found evidence of fire-starting materials, but he said the fire appeared suspicious because of the multiple set points.

The area's geography posed challenges to firefighters, Singh said. A few narrow roads offered limited access to emergency workers who tried to keep an eye on the ever-shifting boundaries of the blaze.

Hall said Tuesday evening that firefighters were waiting for the fire to burn itself out.

"What we have here is vegetation and river bottom," Hall said. "Basically we look at the threat. The wind's blowing out of the northwest. We need to make sure everything downwind of that is protected."