NSFA Firefighters Todd Pittman, Glynne Morgan and Wendy Drew refill Engine 1 after fighting a blaze in Clearlake Oaks.

CLEARLAKE OAKS – A structure fire on hilly Widgeon way in Clearlake Oaks Tuesday afternoon sent four people to the hospital with fire-related injuries.

Black smoke billowing into the sky above Clearlake Oaks was first spotted by a conservation crew traveling past in a bus, said Northshore Fire Chief Jim Robbins.

Between 15 and 18 Northshore firefighters were dispatched, and were soon joined by firefighters from nearly every department around the lake and Cal Fire, as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is now known, Robbins reported.

The fire destroyed the first structure – a three-level hillside residence – caught another home on fire and set the grassy hillside ablaze, Robbins said.

Nearly three acres of wildland were charred before Northshore firefighters and mutual aid departments were able to extinguish it, said Robbins.

The steep hillside made fighting the fire more difficult, Robbins said. “You could only fight it from two sides."

Robbins commented that it was odd that the fire consumed a hillside full of green grass. "You would never have believed it," he said. "Grass doesn't usually burn when it's green."

Three firefighters and the occupant of the first structure to catch fire were sent to the hospital, Robbins reported.

The firefighters were transported to Sutter Lakeside in Lakeport with smoke inhalation injuries, said Robbins, while the occupant was transported to Redbud Hospital in Clearlake.

E-mail John Jensen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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