For the third time in as many days, a grass fire has ripped through the El Manto access to the American River Parkway in Rancho Cordova.

Police believe these fires are the result of arson.

“There may be someone in the bushes watching us right now. It puts my men at risk when I have to send them into a field with a heavy fuel load,” said Sacramento Metro Fire Battalion Chief Charles Jenkins.

Police detained one man who matched witness descriptions of a suspect seen leaving the blaze Saturday. But when they were shown the man who was detained, those witnesses told police he wasn’t the same person, so he was released.

The largest of the three fires came Friday, when about 40 acres were scorched.

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