Update 9 a.m.:
SUISUN CITY, Calif. -- An illegal burn on a makeshift grill is what fire investigators say started the large blaze in Suisun City on Wednesday.
According to Suisun City Fire Chief Justin Vincent, the makeshift grill was found at the back of the wildlife center surrounded in an area with a lot of dry vegetation. It is unclear who created the makeshift grill and it is not confirmed to have been started by a homeless person.
Original:
A large four-alarm fire burning in Suisun City destroyed three homes, damaged four and threatened nearly 100 more, fire officials said.
According to Suisun City Fire Chief Justin Vincent, the fire was under control Thursday morning, with no immediate threats to homes or structures in Suisun City.
"You should expect to see smoke coming out of this area for at least another week since what's left is burning in rough terrain," he explained.
The fire started just behind the Suisun Wildlife Center. Vincent said they were having difficulties evacuating the wildlife center because they did not want to leave the animals behind.
Firefighters ultimately had to cut loose some animals to fend for themselves, Vincent said.
People were seen running to the center trying to save animals. Fire crews were able to save foxes, coyotes, rabbits, and birds, but sadly some owls died, Vincent said.
The fire jumped into a neighborhood and destroyed eight homes, threatening 100 others.
Fire crews from at least four different agencies are assisting the Suisun City Fire Department — Cal Fire, Vallejo, Solano, and Contra Costa County fire departments — as they try and stop forward progress.
Crystal Middle School, part of the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, was opened as an evacuation site, but as of 11 p.m. Wednesday, families in the neighborhood have been allowed to go home.
The Red Cross and Salvation Army got seven families displaced by the fire into hotels.
People who lost their homes say there's a homeless encampment nearby that may have started it all. Vincent doesn't know the cause of the fire but says last year in the city there was a total of 18 homeless encampment fires and there's been 18 already, just this year.
According to Vincent, the blaze is just a preview of the dangerous and busy fire season ahead. This time last year in the city there was a total of 24 fires, this year they have doubled – to 49. With an early fire season like this bringing this level of destruction, we are all just praying that things can calm down.
His hopes are that prayers are enough to have a less destructive rest of the year.
"This has been has been a very very rough year for the fire service," he said. "Whoever is playing Jumanji just needs to close it because between riots, coronavirus, fire activity and everything else, it's been very busy."
In the meantime, volunteers at the wildlife center were cleaning up after the fire Thursday morning. They were seen caring for the animals that survived. A Facebook fundraising page has been created to help raise money for repairs to the Suisun Wildlife Center. Tap here to learn more.
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