High Winds Spark Fast-Moving Elk Grove Fire
ELK GROVE (CBS13) — A fast-moving fire driven by high winds in Elk Grove had crews watching for a possible re-ignition on Tuesday night.
The fire started just before 2 p.m. at Bond and Waterman roads in the southeast part of Elk Grove, threatening homes.
"There was a lot of wind blowing and it was swirling different directions," Damon Kendrix said.
One car was destroyed, several fences were scorched and the roof of Eric Spitzer's home was damaged.
"Ran inside, grabbed my guinea pig, came back out, grabbed my hose, but it was just too late by then, I just took off down the street," he said.
Dozens of others were forced to evacuate.
"We got the dog ready and I grabbed some external hard drives with all our home movies and pictures and we got out," Kendrix said.
The rest of the subdivision was saved by a 15-foot ring of defensible space up against each home.
"Fortunately there's a plowed line around the field which gave us just that half a second extra to be able keep it from being much worse on these homes," said deputy fire chief Mike McLaughlin.
Investigators say the strong winds that fueled the flames are also to blame for starting the fire. The winds caused a high-voltage power line to arc, sending sparks down to the dry grass below.
"They are also known as flashy fuels because they burn very quickly, they are very susceptible to fire spread, rapid rates of fire spread like we saw here today," he said.
Spitzer is left with a big cleanup, but he's thankful for firefighters' quick response.
"By the time it hit this tree, about seven fire trucks came around this corner, so we got really lucky," he said.
