Wildfire near Shoreline Park under investigation

Firefighters raced to Mountain View’s baylands on Sunday afternoon to put out a grass fire that was quickly spreading due to the windy weather. The fire reportedly burned about an acre of vegetation near a Terminal Boulevard parking lot by the entrance to Shoreline Park.

Mountain View resident Jyoti Bachani said she first spotted the blaze around 4 p.m. when she and a friend returned to their cars after a hike. Smoke was billowing from the grassy field and they saw flames spreading through the area, she told the Voice. They called the fire department to report the blaze.

“In my 25 years of hiking here, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Bachani said. “I’ve never been that close to a fire like this — it was difficult to breathe from all the smoke.”

The fire ended up burning a couple trees and about 100 yards of the field, said Battalion Chief Ted Vandenberg of the Mountain View Fire Department. The only property damage reported was a city-owned wooden fence that was burned.

Fire officials say they are still investigating the cause of the blaze.