SPRING VALLEY – A fire believed to have been sparked by an antique car caught a hillside on fire in Spring Valley early Friday afternoon.

The fire, which occurred along New Long Valley Road within a mile of Highway 20, was dispatched at 12:26 p.m. Friday, according to Cal Fire, which had joint command of the incident.

A passing United Parcel Service driver reportedly stopped to empty his fire extinguisher on the car as firefighters and California Highway Patrol responded to the fire, which blocked traffic in and out of the valley.

The fire then moved up a nearby hillside. “We took care of the vehicle fire an part of the wildland fire, and Cal Fire took over from there,” said Northshore Fire Battalion Chief Ken Petz.

Northshore sent an engine and a medic unit to the fire, said Petz, while Cal Fire sent five engines, a bulldozer that was used to create a fire break and aircraft.

Cal Fire said the blaze was contained at 12:54 p.m. The blaze was estimated to be about a half-acre in size.

Petz noted that, despite the dry conditions, there hasn't been much fire activity recently.

The only other fire activity of note in the area was reported by the Mendocino National Forest.

Late Thursday, a small fire just over an acre in size was reported in the Rice Valley area of the Mendocino National Forest, according to spokesperson Tamara Schmidt.

Cal Fire reported that it sent engines, dozers and hand crews to assist in fighting the fire, located in the vicinity of Lake Pillsbury.

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