A suspicious fire destroyed construction equipment and forced the evacuation of the Arroyo Veterinary Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. The 4:15 p.m. blaze started in a grass field used to store equipment and debris related to the Highway 12 project, but was brought under control in about 15 minutes.
There were no injuries.
The blaze started in a large stack of empty cardboard boxes and wooden pallets, according to a witness. It quickly spread to surrounding equipment including a trench digger and a truck-mounted crane, which were destroyed, and a bucket truck.
The origins of the fire, on a day when workers were not in the unfenced area and none of the equipment had been used, were acknowledged to be suspicious. Sonoma Valley Fire Division Chief Mark Freeman estimated the equipment damage at $100,000.
“It was scary,” said Janelle Johnson, whose mobile home sits about 50 yards from the fire. She and her neighbors in the Oak Tree mobile home park were afraid it would ignite the huge oaks ringing the grass field, and spread to their homes. “The adrenaline was really pumping.”
Johnson said she saw the boxes on fire and ran inside her home to call 911. By the time she came back out, the fire had engulfed the trucks. “We could hear the tires popping.”
The fire sent thick black smoke into the vet clinic at 18501 Sonoma Highway, forcing the evacuation of about 10 to 15 employees and customers, according to the clinic’s Elizabeth Ponsford. About 10 animals, including a few on fluids, were ushered outside and put in employee cars for safety.
“It was very orderly,” Ponsford said. “Everybody was very on top of it.”
Ponsford said when snarled traffic blocked entry of the responding fire trucks, clinic staff helped stop the flow of cars to let them through. “People really pull together in an emergency,” she said.
