DVC students and faculty were notified of a small grass fire that had been extinguished at 1:05 p.m. Oct. 8, along the Contra Costa Canal Trail.

The notification, which came from DVC’s emergency communication alert system, stated, “A grass fire along the canal trail above campus is now out.  There is still smoke so please avoid the area.”

A second notification was sent out an hour later stating that the smoke had cleared and that everything was back to normal.

According to Steve Hill, the Contra Costa Fire District Public Information Officer, the initial call for the fire was received at 12:37 p.m.  There were multiple calls afterword that were taken into account.

Engine E13 arrived at the scene at 12:45 p.m.

Hill said that it was, “A 30′ X 30′ grass and rubbish fire.  It must’ve been a small fire as the incident commander (IC) reported his crew was breaking down a little over a minute later, indicating the fire was suppressed.”

Overall, Hill said that the fire only took about two minutes to put out.

Con Fire does not know exactly when and how the fire started, but it is currently under investigation.

From these emergency notification messages, there was no direct threat to the campus, according to Lt. Ryan Huddleston of the Contra Costa Community College District Police Department.

These types of messages, “can come from multiple departments on campus,” he said.

Each text and email are independently written and sent out from either the campus police services, campus PIO (public information officer), or college administration.