Vegetable Gardener Accidentally Started Silverado Fire, Investigators Say

Originally posted at 1:41 p.m. Sept. 15, 2014. Edited with new details.

The four-day-old Silverado Fire, which has burned nearly 1,000 acres, was apparently ignited by the sun reflecting off metal sheeting put up by someone trying to keep rodents out of a vegetable garden, a fire official said.

The two-foot high metal sheeting was wrapped around a wood border, and the reflected rays ignited the wood and grass in a backyard in the 30500 block of Silverado Canyon Road about 10:30 a.m. Friday, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi.

Residents should “use wire mesh to keep small rodents out” of gardens, he said.

“Do not ever use a material that reflects like metal sheeting -- it becomes like a magnifying glass,” Concialdi said.

Neighbors said they smelled wood burning intermittently, but did not see any smoke and did not report anything to authorities, Concialdi said.

“Once the fire started, it traveled out of the garden and into adjacent grasses and vegetation and ran up a steep hill,” Concialdi said.

The homeowner who put up the rodent barrier called 911 and tried to douse the fire, with help from neighbors, but it spread too rapidly, Concialdi said.

Read how the fire’s now 80 percent contained.

--City News Service

PHOTO Credit Dr. James Asch