Fire investigators have not yet settled on what started a nearly five-acre grass fire in the vicinity of Edgewood and Canada roads on a northern portion of the Filoli estate in Woodside on Saturday, Oct. 3. The initial reported cause, downed electrical wires, turned out to be inaccurate, Fire Chief Dan Ghiorso of the Woodside Fire Protection District told the Almanac.
Firefighters from San Mateo County Fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Woodside district responded to a report of a fire at about 5:50 p.m and contained it within 10 minutes, Chief Ghiorso said in an email.
There were no injuries and no damage to buildings or other structures, Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean said.
Quick action was the order of the day. “Light flashy fuels” in combination with some winds were a threat to the fire crossing Canada Road, the chief said. At first, firefighters called for a full response, including a bulldozer and aircraft. The bulldozer was instrumental in helping ground crews contain the fire, but firefighters canceled the aircraft, the chief said.
Critical to the containment was a section of the grounds that had been gone over with a disker. “That really helped stop the spread of the fire,” the chief said. “If you notice in (the) Filoli estate, they cut/disk every year for this reason.”
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