Fatal Plane Crash Sparks Wildland Fire Near Novato

The following is a news release from the County of Marin:

A single-engine passenger plane reported engine trouble Monday night over a rural area in northern Marin County before crashing, and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed one fatality.

Federal Aviation Administration authorities in Oakland said it lost radar contact with the plane at approximately 9:30 p.m. Monday and provided an approximate location to the Marin County Communications Center, prompting an overnight search. At approximately3:09 a.m., a fire was reported on a rural ranch in western Marin, just north of Hicks Valley near the Marin-Sonoma county line west of Novato. A Marin County Sheriff’s Office deputy located the fire on a ridgetop and firefighters from the Marin County Fire Department’s Hicks Valley station arrived to find approximately 40 acres of grass and brush burning in multiple canyons and hillsides. By 8 a.m., the fire was 75 percent contained with 25 firefighters battling the blaze.

The wreckage of a small aircraft was located in the fire area and the Sheriff’s Office confirmed the crash was fatal. The Coroner Division is investigating the incident in cooperation with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Six engine companies, an ambulance, a bulldozer and two chief officers from Marin County Fire responded with personnel from Sheriff’s Office, Novato Fire, CALFire, the Civil Air Patrol and the California Highway Patrol.

(Courtesy Image)