Cigarette on roadside sparks two-alarm Rio Linda grass fire, Sacramento Metro Fire says

The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District on Monday afternoon battled a two-alarm grass fire that threatened homes in a rural area of Rio Linda after a cigarette was discarded along a nearby road.

Shortly after 4 p.m., Sacramento Metro Fire reported that firefighters were at the scene with multiple structures on fire near 28th and U streets in Rio Linda. The fire was burning near a few large homes across the street from the Cherry Island Soccer Complex.

Fire officials called for a second alarm to get more crews and equipment to the scene, Metro Fire announced on its Twitter account.

An arson investigator was at the scene and determined that the fire was started by someone who dropped a cigarette on the roadside, and the flames spread through the grass into a structure, said Metro Fire Capt. Parker Wilbourn.

The large house on the property was saved from the fire, Wilbourn said, but flames damaged a garage at the rear of the home. He said firefighters were working to put out the grass fire.

Video from a KCRA 3 news helicopter showed charred grass burning around the homes, and what appeared to be a wood fence burned by the flames.

A firefighting helicopter was dropping water to douse the flames. The KCRA video showed a large pile of what appeared to be wood burning on the property.