A vegetation fire burned 3 acres near Wolf Ridge Trail in the Mill Valley area on Thursday, Aug. 27, before crews stopped its forward progress.

The Tennessee Fire was first reported around 12:30 p.m. after smoke appeared on a camera overlooking the area, according to Marin County Fire Department officials cited by Patch. By 1:20 p.m., the fire had burned about 3 acres and was spreading at a slow to moderate rate downhill toward the valley.

Crews halted the fire's advance by 1:40 p.m., officials said.

The Mill Valley Police Department issued an alert at 1:14 p.m. advising residents that drift smoke from a fire in the Marin Headlands was carrying into Mill Valley and that there was no current threat. The department asked residents not to call 911 unless reporting an emergency.

Second vegetation fire this summer

The Tennessee Fire is the second significant vegetation fire near Mill Valley in roughly a month. On July 27, the Hillside Fire burned 1.5 acres in steep terrain between Hillside Avenue and Blithedale Ridge. That fire's forward progress was stopped within about 90 minutes.

The Hillside Fire prompted a community meeting on Aug. 19 attended by about 50 residents. Paula Vlamings, who watched the July response from her home near Blithedale Ridge, told officials at that meeting: "The plane came over my house, rattled the windows with fire retardant … I can see from my balcony four, five, six, seven, eight, 10 trucks coming up the hill and still we had no information."

The cause of the Tennessee Fire has not been announced. Marin County fire officials said at the Aug. 19 meeting that more than 80% of fires in the area are human-caused.

Prevention work ongoing

The Greater Mill Valley Fuel Break now covers 173 acres overall, with 78 acres completed in 2025, according to the Southern Marin Fire Protection District. As of the Aug. 19 meeting, 455 defensible-space inspections had been completed in Mill Valley this year, with 1,475 planned for 2026.

The city's Municipal Services Tax, which funds roughly 20% to 30% of vegetation clearing and trail maintenance, expires in 2028. A proposed 10-year renewal at the same rate will appear on the November ballot as Measure T.

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