As firefighters tried to tame a blaze Saturday along the lower stretch of the American River Parkway and as cars on Highway 160 slowed to watch a helicopter dart overhead to make a water drop, Ralph Plunkett stood in the shade of the overpass, his head bowed.
It was too soon to tell what caused the fire that raced through the underbrush, shot into the treetops and charred a large swatch of land, but Plunkett, who lives nearby in a homeless camp, already knew whom most folks would suspect.
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- A firefighter walks on part the American River Parkway that burned Saturday afternoon about three miles east of Discovery Park / Photo by FLORENCE LOW
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- Firefighters position their engines to battle a blaze that closed part of the bike trail and Highway 160 for a short time Saturday afternoon / Photo by FLORENCE LOW
The homeless are blamed for the trash, for the persistence of illegal camping, for scores of petty thefts in nearby neighborhoods, for bringing down property values and, in many cases, for the fires that dot the parkway landscape during the summer dry season.
“It’s making us look bad as homeless people,” said Plunkett, 48, who has been homeless most of the past eight years. “Yeah, it’s probably a homeless person who did this, but it’s not all of us.”
“There are homeless everywhere you look around here,” said Vincent Talancon, a member of a nearby neighborhood watch group. “I don’t want to speculate, but 95 percent of these fires are started by them, either by accident or because they just want to see fire.”
In the latest blaze, the Sacramento Fire Department received the call at 1:56 p.m. and more than 100 firefighters responded, according to Assistant Chief Alton McMillon. A short stretch of the bike trail was closed temporarily and reopened by late afternoon. Officials also briefly shut down part of Highway 160 as flames climbed into the crowns of trees and got dangerously close to the roadway.
The cause of the fire is under investigation but is considered suspicious, McMillon said. The fire burned on both sides of the levee and bike trail about three miles east of Discovery Park, but it was unclear if there were two fires or if one fire had jumped the levee, according to the assistant chief.
Fire crews were expected to fight the fire throughout the night and into Sunday, McMillon said.
Three firefighters were transported to area hospitals for heat-related illnesses, he said.
Meanwhile, the good-natured Plunkett, who wears a thick gray beard and secondhand clothes, remained in the shade only a stone’s throw from where the flames devoured grass and twigs and made the dry scrub brush crinkle and pop as it burned.
A homeless camp, one of many, could be seen on the edge of the charred aftermath. Nearby were several signs stating “Absolutely no trespassing, no camping, no dumping.”
The existence of the homeless in the high-profile recreational area has been an ongoing controversy with residents and a tall task for police.
“We have two officers dedicated to working with them and, for the most part, we get compliance any time we ask for it,” said Sgt. Matt Young, a spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department. “There are a lot of homeless in Sacramento that have emotional issues. It’s a very eclectic population, ranging from violent criminals to very nice people who are just down on their luck.”
“Somebody is lighting these,” said Michael Grant, 32, who is homeless and sleeps near the parkway. “Somebody said it was a homeless gentleman who is setting these because he doesn’t like other homeless. Heck, I’m not proud of being this, but I’m trying to survive.”
As he spoke, he took the occasional long drag on a cigarette, only 50 yards from the edge of the fire.
Fire officials have grown so concerned about the dry vegetation throughout the 23-mile American River Parkway that they have considered performing controlled burns – fires set under the watchful eye of firefighters to clear debris that could cause even more volatile blazes at the hands of an arsonist.
A larger fire began Monday on the north side of the American River before jumping the river amid whipping winds and burning 16 acres in Sutter’s Landing Regional Park, once the site of the city’s dump. The cause of that fire also remains under investigation.
West Coast 911 firefighting news source – Sac Bee
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