Oct 13, 2008 12:51 am US/Pacific
SF, Marin Firefighters Battle Angel Island Blaze
ANGEL ISLAND (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
Firefighters battled a wind-driven wildfire that burned out of control early Monday as it charred the east side of Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay, forcing the evacuation of campers and threatening some unoccupied buildings.
The brush fire burned on the island's highest point, Mount Livermore, which is 781 feet high and a rugged area — sending up a glow visible.
"The fire has been spotted from all over the Bay Area," said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Lara Mooney.
The two-alarm fire ignited about 9 p.m. Sunday and had nearly doubled in size within an hour, Marin County fire Capt. Joe Morena said. By midnight, the blaze had grown to at least 100 acres.
Fire crews from Marin County and San Francisco were dispatched by boat to the island in order to battle the flames. The Coast Guard also transported firefighters via a ferry, Mooney said.
Authorities told CBS 5 that as many as 200 firefighters were expected to be deployed overnight. Numerous fire engines had also been sent to the island, which measures about 270 acres in all, Morena said.
About 40 campers were evacuated from the island via the Tiburon ferry, and the fire threatened several buildings in an area known as the East Garrison, said Mike Giamnini of the Marin County Fire Department. He did not know exactly which buildings were in danger of burning.
Angel Island is a state park with a number of historic buildings, including an immigration station that was the first stop for many incoming immigrants in the early 1900s.
"This side of the island has some of the most historic buildings," said James Dexter, a state parks employee who was stationed on the island. Dexter said the World War I-era Fort McDowell was also on that side of the island.
The Marin County Fire Department had a pre-planned system to respond to a fire on Angel Island and was executing that plan late Sunday night, according to officials.
No injuries were reported. Morena did not have an estimated time of containment, saying just before midnight that it was "too early to tell."
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