Around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning firefighters responded to reports of a quickly moving wildfire inside the park at Stern Grove in the Outer Sunset. According to SFFD Captain Kevin Smith, the fire apparently originated in the bushes around a homeless encampment in the back of the heavily wooded grove and spread to the hillside.
Twelve engine companies and 40 firefighters were dispatched to the park after the early morning call came in. As Smith told KTVU, the blaze was a challenge to fight due to the steep hillsides in the park and the low nighttime visibility, but SFFD managed to contain the damage to about a one-acre space.
There were no injuries reported and the homeless encampment had fled by the time firefighters got to the scene. No word yet on whether that damaged acre included any of the areas used for the Stern Grove Festival's summer concert series.
ABC7 has the video report from the morning news:
