LUCERNE, Calif. – Firefighters have contained a small wildland fire that resulted from a vehicle crash on Thursday afternoon.
The fire was first reported just after 4:30 p.m. on Highway 20 and Paradise Valley east of Lucerne.
A gray sedan had crashed into an embankment and subsequently caught fire. The driver was able to get out of the car, and had minor injuries from the crash, according to initial reports from the California Highway Patrol.
Northshore Fire units arriving at the scene said the car was fully involved and had spread to wildland.
Authorities quickly closed down Highway 20 while Northshore Fire and Cal Fire worked to contain the blaze, according to radio reports.
The fire had a light west wind on it and was starting to make what firefighters at the scene called a “significant” run up the hill.
Ground and air resources – including air attack, tankers and a helicopter – launched an aggressive attack and quickly made good progress, according to reports from incident command.
Size estimates from the scene put the fire at two acres.
Shortly after 6 p.m. the fire was reported to be fully contained, with a few hours of mop up anticipated, and radio reports indicated the highway was reopened just after 6:30 p.m.
Some Northshore Fire and Cal Fire units on the incident pulled away to respond to a report that came in just after 6 p.m. of a small fire within the perimeter of a fire that had occurred last week on Bartlett Springs Road in the hills above Lucerne.
That second fire on Bartlett Springs Road was reported to be a 100-foot by 100-foot spot when firefighters arrived about a half-hour later, with the fire contained at about 7 p.m., with mop up taking place over the next few hours.
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Vehicle crash causes fire along Highway 20
- Elizabeth Larson
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