SACRAMENTO-

Fifty fire fighters from three agencies knocked down a grass fire a few hundred yards north of the Blue Diamond Almond packing plant near downtown Sacramento.

Luckily the flames were blown north toward the American river scorching about 7 acres.  A helicopter from the Sacramento Metro Fire District was called in to make water drops.

At the same time a smaller fire broke out on the north side of the river.  The helicopter was able to put water on the flames so ground crews could subdue the second fire as well.

Fire officials say the fire would have spread more quickly but the winds did not blow as hard as it did later in the evening.  After the fire was extinguished, crews of fire fighters remained to put out flare-ups caused by the wind.  They will probably have crews watch the area overnight to make sure the wind doesn’t cause more flare-ups.

Many homeless people live by the river just north of the downtown area, but fire officials say they could not say if fires were caused by humans.

Some homeless people who were burned out say they believe it was arson because so many other fires were caused by illegal campers.