(Photo by Solano NewsNet insider Brian Kennedy)
A fast-moving wildfire in Vallejo drew a significant firefighting response from across Solano County on Monday.
The fire was reported around 9 p.m. along a grassy hill adjacant to the Swanzy Reservoir near Navone Street.
The first fire crew to arrive on the scene reported the blaze was quickly moving up the hill and toward several homes in two neighborhoods.
At one point, the fire reached the backyard fences of two homes along Swanzy Court. Police officers who were in the area grabbed any firefighting equipment they could find and began fighting the flames to prevent the blaze from spreading to nearby houses.
While some officers fought the fire, others went door to door, issuing evacuation notices to residents along Navone Street, Del Sur Street, Swanzy Court and Clearpoint Drive.
Fire crews were dispatched from across Solano County, including Benicia, Cordelia, Suisun City, Vacaville and Dixon. A crew from Crockett Fire in neighboring Contra Costa County was also dispatched.
One firefighter suffered a minor injury to his ankle and was treated by medical professionals on the scene.
The fire was declared under control around 10:30 p.m., with forward progress stopped. By that time, the fire had burned between 10 and 15 acres and caused property damage to 10 homes, according to a fire official.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, but eyewitnesses near the scene told Solano NewsNet they heard fireworks going off around the time of the fire’s ignition.
It was the second fire in less than a week to send residents of Vallejo’s hillside neighborhoods scrambling for safety.
Last Tuesday, a fast-moving grass fire raced uphill toward several homes along Skyline Drive. The four-alarm fire caused property damage to six structures. Two of those structures sustained severe damage.
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Matthew Keys & Brian Kennedy, the photo of last night fire helps drive home the real threat these events are posing to the community. Your article is a powerful message, I hope the folks in our community take note and implement change with regards to managing vegetation in open space areas, and areas that abut residential neighborhoods.
The fire threat throughout Solano County is tremendous and immediate based on our current conditions (weather, driving wind, dry fuels, prolonged drought, and inadequate fuels reduction and vegetation management programs). Our firefighters can only do so much, we the community must do more in advance of an arriving fire front.
Solano County needs strong education, short & long range fuels reduction plans and community participation to implement these programs. It takes community involvement! Some of these efforts are underway, but so much more must be done to protect ourselves from wildfire.
Some of these green belts needs to be put into open space parks, and annual fuels reduction plans developed and completed timely, in advance of Fire season. As I drive around the County, I am shocked at how little is being done considering Solano County has been severely impacted by Fire repeatedly for the last 5-years.
Strictly managed/enforced fuels reduction programs are the best way to reduce our risk to wildfires. While keeping insurance accessible and affordable.
We must do better, we must be better stewards of the land. Or these Fire will manage us as they did last year when the LNU Complex struck north Vacaville and threaten all of central Solano County.
Thank you for your reporting and captive illustration. Keep up the efforts!