A seemingly harmless trash fire erupted Thursday into a
fast-moving 12-acre blaze that charred a hillside along San
Juan-Hollister Road, narrowly igniting three homes.
A seemingly harmless trash fire erupted Thursday into a fast-moving 12-acre blaze that charred a hillside along San Juan-Hollister Road, narrowly igniting three homes.
A swirling column of thick brown smoke that could be seen from as far as U.S. 101 and downtown Hollister filled the early afternoon sky as firefighters from Hollister, San Benito County and the California Department of Forestry worked to extinguish the accidental fire.
The force used to battle the fire included one air attack plane, one tanker loaded with fire retardant, one helicopter, one bulldozer; four CDF fire engines, one county fire engine, and one Hollister fire engine.
The 2 p.m. fire, fanned by strong winds, was reportedly started by an illegal trash fire, investigators said.
“The debris was burning out of hours and on a non-burn day,” CDF Battalion Chief Jeff Row said.
Property owners are only allowed to burn debris between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. on days where the threat of fire is low.
A neighboring property owner, who saw the blaze come within a few yards of his home, said the fire acted as if it had a mind of its own.
“It was amazing how the fire started as a trickle along about a three-foot wide path and then took off up the hillside once the wind hit it,” said the property owner who asked not to be named.
Row said the fire was almost contained to about an acre early on.
“The City of Hollister almost had it stopped until the wind really whipped it up,” he said.
Responding to assist county firefighters, a Hollister fire engine was the first on the scene and was within a few minutes of quashing the blaze until a strong afternoon wind spread some of the burning embers along the hillside.
Air support was called in as a CDF tanker from the Hollister Air Base to spread fire retardant along the hillside and slow the rate of the burn. Also, a helicopter was called to make pinpointed 200-gallon drops of water on hot spots that were threatening nearby homes.
Working in coordinated groups, firefighters surrounded the blaze and worked their way around the fire until snuffing it out.
Row said the property owner responsible for starting the fire was cited. The name of the property owner was not available by press time today.
