Following a one-acre blaze off Gehricke Road Friday, state fire authorities are reminding locals that looks can be deceiving. “When you think your burn pile’s out, it’s not,” said CAL FIRE prevention specialist Suzanne Blankenship.
The fire began shortly before 5:20 a.m., when 40 mph winds reignited a three-week-old pile of burned brushwood and pine at the Emery Ranch. Deborah Emery said the debris had been cleared from near the site of the Cavedale Fire, which burned 2,100 acres between Napa and Sonoma counties in the summer of 1996.
Blankenship said rugged landscape and high winds drew a three-agency response, including two engines and crews from CAL FIRE, two engines from Schell-Vista and one from the Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue Authority. Two water tankers completed the detail. A CAL FIRE bulldozer cut a containing line around the blaze but that most of the mop-up was being done by hand. Crews were released from the scene around 1:30 p.m.
“The terrain access was very difficult – they had to walk in,” Blankenship said. “It’s challenging and hard work.” Friday’s fire was the third wildland incident in Sonoma County last week, according to Blankenship, who has been inspecting property and sending informational mailers to homeowners on Lovall Valley, Cavedale and Trinity Roads.
State law requires that every wildland home be surrounded by a 100-foot defensible space (or as far as the property line, whichever comes first). The first 30 feet should be clean of all brush and trees; in the remaining 70 feet, trees should be cleared of lower limbs and underbrush to reduce fire spread. For more information on fire prevention, call the local CAL FIRE office at 967-1400 or download the 16-page booklet “Living with Fire in Sonoma County” available at http://www.firesafesonoma.org.
Brush pile prompts fire warning
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