Fire Outside Martinez Kills Dog, Displaces Family

A fire just outside of Martinez on Sunday morning caused about $250,000 in damage, displaced a family of three people and killed a dog, a Contra Costa County Fire Protection District fire marshal said today.

Firefighters were initially called to the 2500 block of Franklin Canyon Road at around 9:30 a.m. Sunday on a report of a vehicle fire, Fire Marshal Robert Marshall said. Fire crews arrived to find a vehicle engulfed in flames and a detached garage also in flames, Marshall said.

As firefighters were battling the blaze, the fire spread to a home behind the garage and at about 10:30 a.m., it spread to the open space around the home, Marshall said.

“After spreading to the wildlands, it became a much bigger fire,” Marshall said. “The fire ran up a very, very steep hill.”

Nearly 100 firefighters were called to fight the fire, including 16 fire engines, two hand crews, three bulldozers, four air tankers, a helicopter and an air attack unit, Marshall said.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze around noon, but not before it had consumed roughly eight acres of vegetation, Marshall said.

The fire displaced two adults and a child. Marshall said the American Red Cross responded to assist them in finding emergency shelter.

The family’s pet dog died in the fire. Fire inspectors were working this morning to determine whether the fire started in the car or the garage, Marshall said. He said relatively cool temperatures and low winds made their job easier than it would have been otherwise and averted further potential damage.

“We got really lucky. This could have been a much bigger fire if we had more wind and higher temperatures,” Marshall said. “There are a lot of houses in the area but the way the fire burned, it just happened to go into 75 acres of grazing land for cattle.”

Fire crews had to navigate steep slopes and there were no roads in the area, Marshall said.

“It took us about 20 minutes just to find access to the ridge,” he said, adding that air tankers helped by battling the blaze from the sky. “If we had any more wind, we’d probably still be out there today.”

Cal Fire officials called up a spare air tanker after one tanker returned from the blaze with landing gear problems, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Chris Jurasek said.

Despite the landing gear problems, the tanker was able to land safely at base, Jurasek said. No firefighters or residents reported any injuries in the fire, Marshall said.

--Bay City News

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