Target practice sparks 250-acre vegetation fire near Patterson
A man was cited Sunday evening for allegedly starting a 250-acre vegetation fire while target shooting in a dry field near Patterson.
A state game warden spotted the fire and found a group of about six people in the area of Zacharias Road and the Delta-Mendota Canal around 9 p.m., said Dustin Bruley, supervisor of the Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit.
He said the fire was caused by “careless shooters.”
“Firing a firearm off into dry vegetation, you are likely to strike a rock, which causes a spark,” Bruley said. With the low humidity and high winds, “you tend to be able to start a grass fire easily.”
One of the people in the group who was in possession of a rifle was cited by the warden under the California Health and Safety Code for allowing a fire to get out of control.
West Stanislaus Fire Battalion Chief Paul Lara said the fire was among three that were on abandoned agricultural land owned by the same person.
Another burned about 15 acres in a peach orchard near Interstate 5 Sunday afternoon, and the third burned 150 acres in an almond orchard at Zacharias and Rogers roads on Friday, Lara said.
A marijuana grow was discovered in the middle of the almond orchard. The Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene, but no arrests were made.
There were several other small roadside fires, Lara said, fueled by winds that reached about 15 mph.
This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 12:35 PM.
