In the last 24 hours, several small fires have sparked up in Paso Robles.
Two occurred within 200 yards of each other near the block of Spring Street and 24th Street Tuesday morning. The fires are still under investigation.
"It's fire season and the weather's been hot and dry for an extended period at this time," Paso Fire Battalion Chief Nate Bass said. "So, the fuels are very receptive to anything that could possibly catch fire."
Chief Bass says the Salinas Riverbed fire that burned about a quarter-acre and the two small fires that occurred on Tuesday morning are all deemed suspicious in nature.
“We’re still conducting investigations on both of them," Bass said. "What made the fires today seem suspicious was their proximity to two roadways and where they were. There were no electrical lines involved. [There wasn't] any natural cause that would cause those fires to start."
According to Bass, he's actually seen a reduction in the number of fires from previous years compared to this year within the city limits and says the community has been very responsive to their preventative efforts this fire season.
"We've had a pretty pretty aggressive fuels management program that we've implemented over the last two years," said Bass. "We've had two goats that have been grazing in the riverbed as well as some outlying areas within the city, which has been very beneficial to keeping the fires reduced in size."
