- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Mowing found to be the cause of fire near hospital
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A fire that burned close to Sutter Lakeside Hospital on Tuesday afternoon was caused by equipment, according to the Lakeport Fire chief.
The fire, first reported over the radio shortly after 2 p.m., was located in the area of Hill Road and Hill Road East, just up the road from Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
The first units on scene found the blaze to be a quarter of an acre with a moderate rate of spread and low wind on it, radio reports indicated.
Lakeport Fire Chief Doug Hutchison said the fire's final size was mapped at approximately 16.1 acres by Cal Fire's Copter 104.
“The cause was, they were mowing for fire prevention,” Hutchison said.
It's believed that the mower – which was towed behind a tractor – ran into some old wire. “That's when they noticed smoke behind them,” Hutchison said.
Responding to the incident along with Lakeport Fire were Northshore Fire, Kelseyville Fire and Cal Fire, he said.
Hutchison said he responded, along with three engines from Lakeport Fire; Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos brought two engines and a water tender; Kelseyville Fire sent an engine and a water tender; and Cal Fire had two engines, two crews, a dozers, a battalion chief and Copter 104 on scene.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office reported that Hill Road also was temporarily under traffic control as firefighters were working in the area.
Nearby Sutter Lakeside Hospital was on standby, and the outlying clinics had been notified and temporarily evacuated while firefighters were working to control the fire, according to hospital spokeswoman Morgan Wells.
Hutchison estimated it took a few hours to get good containment on the blaze due to the area's light, flashy fuels – specifically, grass. Thanks to this year's rain, there is an abundance of such vegetation.
At the same time, firefighters were negotiating around oak trees, he said.
Cal Fire kept some units on scene on Wednesday, when they cleared the scene at around 3:30 p.m., according to radio traffic. Hutchison confirmed that they had remained out on the site for monitoring.
Noting he's always on edge about fire, Hutchison said that his biggest concern this year is due to the rain and the resulting fuels.
While it's good for the groundwater supply, “The flip side of that is all that rain has given us an abundant grass crop,” and he said it's dried out very quickly with the recent mini heat wave.
“Unlike other fuel types, grass burns incredibly fast, incredibly aggressively and very erratically,” he said, adding that a grass fire will turn quicker than a fire in heavier fuels.
As an example, Hutchison explained that Tuesday's fire one minute would be spreading slowly, and then some wind would hit it and cause it to quickly move 200 feet.
He said that, in a lot of ways, grass fires can be more dangerous to people, who get lulled into a false sense of security. The danger, he said, is such fires can quickly change direction.
With the hot weather, mowing is a concern. “We appreciates everyone's efforts to try to knock the grass down. We don't want to discourage that,” Hutchison said.
However, he advised people to do the work early in the day. That means no mowing after 9 or 10 a.m. on a sunny day with little or no wind, and keeping a fire extinguisher on hand.
“It's just one spark. It's all it takes,” he added.
Tuesday's fire was the first big incident of the fire season in Lake County.
“We're hoping it's not an omen for the rest of the season,” Hutchison said.
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