Vegetation Fire at Belmont School Quickly Extinguished

A vegetation fire at a Belmont elementary school was quickly extinguished by firefighters Tuesday afternoon.

On Tuesday, June 10, 2014 at approx. 3:20PM firefighters from Belmont fire station 14 were driving back to their station when they saw smoke coming from the campus of Nesbit Elementary School.  As firefighters arrived fire was in the vegetation, to the rear of the school district maintenance garage, on the west side of the school.

The fire, which at one point extended approx. 20' up into the trees bordering an adjacent apartment complex, was extinguished within five minutes.  In all, an area approx. 20' by 30' was burned, which included a large amount of needles from nearby pine trees.  No structures were involved, and there were no injuries.

The cause of the fire is undetermined, but is classified as human-caused, as no other sources of ignition were found.  Witnesses told investigators that they had smelled something burning several hours before the fire broke out.  The area behind the maintenance building is a popular spot for youth to congregate and it is possible a discarded cigarette or similar item had been smoldering in the pine needles before the afternoon winds caused flames to erupt.