Update: Fires Sparked Across Contra Costa Amid Changing Conditions

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — Firefighters battled multiple emergencies Tuesday afternoon, including an 11-acre vegetation fire near Byron, while also knocking down a second-alarm house fire in Walnut Creek that sent one person to the hospital and killed two dogs.

The Camino Fire ignited about 2:51 p.m. near Camino Diablo and Vasco Road in unincorporated Contra Costa County, just south of Byron and southeast of Brentwood.

By about 5 p.m. Tuesday, the fire had burned 11 acres in the rural corridor, a major commuter route linking eastern Contra Costa County with Livermore and the Interstate 580 corridor in Alameda County.

Firefighters worked to contain the Camino fire while other Contra Costa County Fire Protection District crews responded to a second-alarm residential fire in Walnut Creek.

The house fire was reported at 3:39 p.m. in the 700 block of Woodwind Place. Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and visible flames pouring from the single-family home before calling for a second alarm.

Crews brought the blaze under control by about 4:30 p.m., although firefighters remained at the scene into the evening extinguishing hot spots and checking for remaining hazards.

One person was transported to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, according to Contra Costa County Fire Protection District officials. Two dogs died in the fire.

The cause of the Walnut Creek fire remains under investigation.

Fire officials had not reported any injuries or threatened structures in the Camino Fire as of Tuesday evening. And no updates were available as of 11 a.m. today, Aug. 5.

However, forecasts call for improved conditions today.

Temperatures in inland areas — Lamorinda, Walnut Creek, Concord, Brentwood, Antioch — can expect to see temperatures drop by several degrees today.

Onshore winds are expected to bring cooler, more humid marine air inland, raising relative humidity, which slows the drying of vegetation.

Bay City News contributed to this report.