NORTH COAST, Calif. — Cal Fire’s law enforcement officers have made an arrest in connection to the 11-acre Pocket fire, which began Saturday north of Geyserville in Sonoma County.

The adult subject from Cloverdale was arrested and booked into the Sonoma County Jail in Santa Rosa on one felony charge and three misdemeanor charges.

The felony charge was for unlawfully causing a fire of a structure or forest land and the three misdemeanors were on violations of Health and Safety Code section 13001 as well as
California Public Resource Codes sections 4431 and 4421, which speak to negligent actions involving machinery and flammable materials leading to fires.

Cal Fire said the cause of the Pocket fire was determined to be the result of using a riding lawn mower in cured annual grasses that were 4 feet tall. The riding lawn mower used is designed for wet, green lawns, not for dry weeds or grass. The medal blades on riding lawn mowers can spark fires when hitting rocks.

Asides from lawn mowers, other equipment use that can spark a wildfire include weed-eaters, chainsaws, grinders, welders, tractors and trimmers. Defensible space work is critical to help create a perimeter around your home to protect it from a wildfire, but only when done under the right weather conditions.

Cal Fire urges the public to avoid any activities that may ignite a wildfire. Given the combination of extreme heat, elevated fire conditions and an abundant, cured grass and shrub crop across most of California, Cal Fire will have maximum enforcement on human-caused wildfires.

This is the second arrest made over the past week by Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Law Enforcement Officers in connection to the cause of a wildland fire.

The first arrest was of an adult male on July 3 in connection to the cause of the Adams Fire, which was started by weed-eating in dried grasses.

The Pocket fire started at 11:19 a.m. Saturday near Pocket Ranch Road and Ridge Oaks Road. Cal Fire’s initial attack strategy is to keep 95 percent of all fires at 10 acres or less. By the time Air Attack had arrived overhead it had already exceeded that size, but a coordinated air and ground attack was able to quickly contain the fire once resources were at scene.

Along with Cal Fire, additional responding agencies included the Northern Sonoma County Fire Protection District, the Healdsburg Fire Department and the Cloverdale Fire District.

No structures were damaged or destroyed in the fire and no injuries were reported.

Saturday’s fire burned in the same footprint as the 2017 Pocket fFire, which was a part of the Central LNU Complex. That fire started on Oct. 9, 2017 and consumed 17,357 acres.

To learn more about preparing for the threat of wildfire, visit https://readyforwildfire.org/.