A smudgy-black column of smoke marked the skyline above Redwood Valley yesterday afternoon when a two-story residential home lit up in flames.
Chief Kerry Robinson of the Redwood Valley-Calpella Fire Department told us firefighters found a large, single-family, residential home fully engulfed in flames and smoke as they arrived on the scene.
The home was alive with smoke and flame. Fire flared out of window frames on both floors of the home while the structure produced a deep-black column of smoke that was seen for miles. The cause of the blaze is under investigation, Chief Robinson told us.
The Incident Commander grew concerned that vegetation along one side of the home could catch fire, so Chief Robinson said the initial approach to fighting the structure fire was concentrating on the side of the home most prone to lighting significant vegetation on fire.
Scanner traffic indicated Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to the scene because the homeowner was not cooperating with firefighters’ efforts.
Chief Robinson told us when the deputies arrived on the scene, they simply helped the homeowner find a place to stay for the time being.
Chief Robinson saw the day as a demonstration of the mutual aid system within Mendocino County’s fire agencies as force multipliers during challenging incidents. Responding agencies to the incident included Redwood Valley-Calpella Fire Department, Potter Valley Fire, Ukiah Valley Fire Authority, Hopland Fire, and Brooktrails Fire.
“Today’s house fire was a bad one,” Chief Robinson said, “and we are lucky to have a great group of fire agencies that got the job done.”
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Any update on the cause of this fire?