RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - The Pine Fire, which broke out on Gazebo Hill behind Murieta Plaza on Thursday, July 30, burned about one-quarter acre before firefighters quickly extinguished it.

The fire was reported at 8:33 p.m. with a dispatch location of Jackson Highway and Lone Pine Drive. The blaze spread uphill across the steep, grass-covered hillside behind Murieta Plaza. Firefighters accessed the blaze from Lone Pine Drive across the road from the Murieta Equestrian Center.

CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Josh Vickers said Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District and CAL FIRE responded to the blaze, which burned about one-quarter acre of grass. Gazebo Hill is within CAL FIRE’s State Responsibility Area.

“It was a quick, quick knockdown of the fire,” Vickers said. “There is a suspicion of fireworks, but the cause remains undetermined and is being investigated by Cal Fire Prevention.”

After the flames were extinguished, a CAL FIRE hand crew from the Ponderosa Fire Center in Cameron Park used hand tools to remove burnable vegetation down to bare soil around the perimeter of the burned area. Vickers said CAL FIRE will patrol the site for the next two to three days to watch for hot spots.

The initial dispatch included crews from Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District’s Station 59 in Rancho Murieta, Station 58 in Sloughhouse, which also responded with a dozer, the Wilton Fire Protection District, and an engine and battalion chief from CAL FIRE’s Sutter Hill Station. A CAL FIRE hand crew from the Ponderosa Fire Center in Cameron Park was dispatched later.

Resident Nancy Clevenger and her husband had just arrived at Bel Air Market when they heard what sounded like a firecracker. The couple went into the store to pick up a few items. When they came back outside a short time later, they saw a line of flames racing uphill behind Murieta Plaza.

Clevenger said the flames then covered the hill in a U-shaped pattern, and they could see fire trucks on the top of the hill.

“It looked to us that they were just letting it burn because the wind was pushing it uphill,” she said. “Had the wind been going the other way, there goes the plaza. So, it was a fortunate situation.”