About 60 yards of the nature area at Lodi Lake was affected by a fire that occurred there Thursday, according to city fire officials.

The Lodi Fire Department said that a fire occurred around 6 a.m. Thursday along the western trail near the point just before the sandbar, resulting in approximately 12,000 square yards of land being damaged.

A sign notifies the public that the nature trail is closed for maintenance on Nov. 2, 2023. An early morning fire at Lodi Lake Thursday damaged an area of the wilderness area where crews have been performing clean up work the past several weeks. (Harika Maddala/Bay City News/Catchlight Local)

The nature area was closed down for the day for crews to remove a fallen tree and to clean up.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

“We want to assure everyone that this area has been a top priority for our city. City Council had recently approved funds for vegetation management and reducing fire fuel,” fire officials said in a social media post.

The department said crews with the tree service West Coast Arborists have been making progress in the area for the last three weeks.

Victoria Franco is a reporter based in Stockton covering San Joaquin County for Bay City News Foundation and its nonprofit news site Local News Matters. She is a Report for America corps member.

Victoria Franco is a Stockton-based reporter covering the diverse news around the Central Valley as part of the Report for America program. As a Stockton native, Franco is proud to cover stories within her community and report a variety of coverage. She is a San Jose State University alumna with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism. In her collegiate years she was Managing Editor for the Spartan Daily. From her time at the Spartan Daily she helped lead her staff to California College Media Awards and a General Excellence first place. Victoria encourages readers to email her story tips and ideas at victoria.franco@baycitynews.com.