Firefighters on Thursday afternoon put out the fourth suspected arson fire at Park Hill in about the past two months.
Hollister fire crews responded to a call at 3:12 p.m. for a fire at Park Hill. The 5-acre grass fire started near the Locust Street entrance on the IOOF Cemetery side of the city park area, though on private land, Fire Chief Mike O’Connor said.
O’Connor confirmed it was the fourth fire, all with a suspected cause of arson, at Park Hill in about two months.
“We know it’s arson but we don’t know who,” O’Connor said.
The fire chief noted there were no witnesses or anyone seen walking nearby at the time of the fire, but pointed out there is “a lot of transient traffic over here.”
Crews had the fire under control before 3:45 p.m. and conducted some prescribed burning along a pathway encircling the hill to ensure it didn’t spread further.
“Because we have it all nicely disked around, we let the fire burn the rest of the hillside,” O’Connor said.
