- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Fire official: Strike team helped stop late night fire from destroying more homes
NICE, Calif. – A Cal Fire strike team on its way to one of the state's major wildland fires is being credited with helping to prevent a fire that burned three structures in a Nice neighborhood on Saturday night from doing even more damage.
The fire, first reported at 10 p.m. at 6979 Plumas St., destroyed a modular home and its garage, as well as a doublewide trailer, according to Northshore Fire Deputy Chief Pat Brown.
Initial reports indicated that Lake County Central Dispatch received more than 100 calls about the fire, according to Brown.
Brown said the five-engine strike team was traveling through Lake County when the Plumas Street fire was dispatched.
“We were able to grab them,” he said, with Northshore Fire making contact with Cal Fire and having the strike team diverted to the Plumas Street incident.
Those Cal Fire engines arrived ahead of Brown and other units from Northshore Fire and Lakeport Fire, he said.
“We could have lost more houses if we didn't have that strike team here,” Brown said.
Brown said the fire started in the modular home, which was burned along with its garage, and then the fire ran up a hill and burned the doublewide trailer.
The occupants of the two homes were away when the fire started, said Brown.
During the firefighting effort, there was one injury reported; Brown said a fire captain rolled an ankle.
All of the structures were destroyed, with Brown estimating total damages at about $200,000.
Brown said the fire burned very hot and very fast. Because of so many nearby homes clustered around the fire, firefighters went into defensive mode and hit the fire hard, running a 5-inch hose from a hydrant and using an estimated 700 gallons a minute for at least an hour.
The fire's cause is under investigation, Brown said.
A fire crew remained on scene through the night until a fire investigator arrived. Brown said the last Northshore Fire engine cleared the scene at about 9 a.m. Sunday.
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