THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED.
LAKEPORT – Firefighters quickly contained a fire Saturday evening in the north Lakeport area.
The fire was reported shortly before 6 p.m.
Michael Selmi of Cal Fire's Incident Command Center said the blaze, measuring an acre and a half, was located in the area of Hill Road and Snyder Drive.
An estimated 40 firefighters – from Cal Fire, Lakeport and Northshore Fire – were on scene for the evening blaze, which came close to area homes. In particular, it burned right up next to one home sitting on a small ridge.
Numerous engines – including five from Cal Fire – responded, along with a bulldozer and a hand crew.
A helicopter and three air tankers were dispatched to the fire, with the helicopter making several water drops.
One area resident, Jack Baxter, looked out his kitchen window, saw the fire and went right for his tractor. Baxter took the front loader with a drag box and headed straight up the hill from his house toward the flames.
He drove into the burning grass and used his tractor to cut a fire line on three sides, which may have helped save the nearest home from fire as well as protect other homes in the immediate area.
Neighbors and firefighters credited his fast action for helping stop the fast-moving fire from reaching other homes over the hill toward Walnut and Lakeshore Boulevard.
The fire was contained just before 6:30 p.m., Selmi said.
Selmi said the fire's cause was a bird that flew into a transformer, a cause which he said is pretty common.
Area residents at the scene indicated that, before the fire, they had experienced a power surge at about 5:45 p.m., followed by a brief blackout.
This is the fourth fire this week reported on the north Lakeport area.
Last Wednesday, three fires amounting to about 22 acres burned along the Highway near the Lakeside Heights subdivision, as Lake County News has reported.
Harold LaBonte contributed to this report.
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