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San Ramon police are investigating the origin of two fires that broke out on Sunday and Monday afternoon 100 yards from homes, southwest of the Bollinger Canyon and Crow Canyon roads intersection.
Sunday’s fire charred approximately 10 acres and required mandatory evacuations for residents living along the 700 block of Pradera Way. Monday’s was more manageable and only spread across 2-3 acres, but created a red flag for investigators due to the proximity and similarity of the previous day’s blaze.
“If you have (seen) anything unusual in this area yesterday or today, please call us,” San Ramon Police Capt. Denton Carlson posted on Twitter. “Too coincidental to be accidents.”
A total of 15 homes on Estancia Court and Pradera Way were briefly evacuated during Sunday’s fire, said Dan McNamara, a battalion chief with the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District, who added that the blaze began at about 3:55 p.m and was completely controlled by 7 p.m.
Monday’s blaze was reported after 2 p.m. and was under control in under two hours. No injuries or house damage were reported in either fire, but both required aerial water drops to help firefighters contain the blaze.
“The fire was threatening but the good thing was it was going downhill towards the homes… so we had time to get there and evacuate,” Fire Chief Paige Meyer said of the 10-acre fire.
While both fires threatened nearby neighborhoods, firefighters caught a break when winds pushed the fire towards homes. Ordinarily a bad thing, this situation differed due to Pradera Way being located downhill from the blaze, which slowed the momentum of the blaze, according to Meyer.
“(Monday) we still did structure protection to protect the homes, but we were able to knock it down pretty quick. It got reported a lot quicker and the wind factor helped so we were able to get ahead of it a lot sooner,” he added.
Monday’s fire began after the National Weather Service declared a “Red Flag Warning” in North Bay Mountains and East Bay Hills due to particularly dangerous fire conditions. The combination of dry offshore winds, low humidity and very dry landscape have combined to make the potential for a critical and dangerous fire to spread very quickly. These dangerous conditions are expected to last at least until early Tuesday evening, but may last till later mid-week.
San Ramon Police have requested that anyone who may have seen anything unusual occur in the area Sunday or Monday, to call 973-2779. Anonymous tips will also be accepted.
Editor’s note: Information from Bay City News Service was used in this article.
Editor’s note: Information from Bay City News Service was used in this article.
Editor’s note: Information from Bay City News Service was used in this article.
