Crews Respond To Fire At Storage Yard North Of Rohnert Park

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Engine crews with multiple agencies responded when a fire broke out Monday afternoon in a bus stored at a southwest Santa Rosa junkyard and spread to other buses and vehicles, authorities reported. The fire at 175 Scenic Ave.— just west of U.S. Highway 101 and north of Rohnert Park — broke out at 3:33 p.m., producing a large column of smoke visible to motorists and area residents.

The California Highway Patrol shut down Scenic Avenue and S. Moorland avenues as the fire spread. CHP dispatchers received numerous calls about the blaze, including from some people who thought the smoke appeared to be coming from Walmart in Rohnert Park.

Rohnert Park firefighters were among those who responded to the fire.

At least one SMART train was delayed as the fire broke out within view of the railroad tracks in the Scenic Avenue area, according to Matt Stevens, a spokesman for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit.

As of 6:11 p.m. Monday, the fire was extinguished but crews remained on scene, according to Cyndi Foreman, a spokeswoman for the Sonoma County Fire Protection District.

A shelter-in-place advisory was issued earlier in the afternoon because of hazardous smoke as buses, vehicles and even stacks of tires burned in the auto storage/wrecking yard, according to Foreman. That advisory has since been lifted, she told Bay City News Service.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report.