Firefighters extinguished a small ground fire in the Huddart Park watershed area, near Toyon Campground, in Woodside Friday morning, according to Woodside Fire Department and Cal Fire CZU posts around 10 a.m. San Mateo County Sheriff's Deputies said later in the day that the grass fire started when someone lit an illegal campfire.
Deputies arrested a man identified by members of Woodside Fire, who saw him leaving the area where the fire began on a bicycle, according to a San Mateo County Sheriff's Office press release. The suspect told police that he started a campfire earlier in the day. He attempted to put it out, but it was not fully extinguished and started a grass fire in the area, the press release states.
"The Sheriff's Office will have zero tolerance for illegal campfires during this fire season," deputies said in the release.
CZU Fire posted a roughly one-hour time lapse of what Cal Fire CZU has dubbed the Cañada Fire, according to Cal Fire CZU Twitter. The final estimate is one-tenth of an acre on San Mateo County Parks land burned and no structures were threatened, according to the fire department.
Smoke was reported around 6:08 a.m., according to Cal Fire CZU's Facebook page. The fire was initially thought to have been near the house on the Phleger Estate open space, but turned out to be in Huddart Park, near the border with the Phleger Estate land, said Battalion Chief and Fire Marshal Don Bullard in an email.
There were no injuries as a result of the fire, according to the Sheriff's Office. The man seen leaving the area on his bike was booked into the Maguire Correctional Facility, according to police.
Anyone who has information regarding this incident is encouraged to call the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office anonymous tip line at 1-800-547-2700.
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