Valley People

GREAT SAVE last Thursday morning by Anderson Valley’s firefighters backed up by CalFire. Anderson Valley Fire Chief Colin Wilson reports: “The ‘Deer’ incident near the ridge at the top of Deer Meadows drive was about a two acre fire on the Lewis property about 2.5 miles up from Highway 128. One of our lookouts, Jenny Palmer, called it into our Boonville station about the same time someone else called it in to 911. When the first AV Fire units got on scene the fire was about an acre and a half, burning in grass and mixed hardwoods and immediately adjacent to a cabin under construction and an outbuilding. AV Fire units provided protection for the structures and the CalFire helicopter (Copter 101) arrived in time to extinguish a 100-foot tall fir tree that was ‘torching’ within 100 feet of the house. Additional CalFire and AV Fire units arrived and contained the fire with a perimeter hose lay. Other AV Fire units were released with the exception of two water tenders. Four CalFire engines remained at the scene to complete ‘mop-up’ operations. The cause of the fire had not been confirmed when I left but there was a trash pile of construction debris near the house that looked like it might well have been the origin of the fire. There was no damage to the structures — the fire mostly just burned the dried grass. In doing follow up on the Deer Meadows fire we have learned that neither the owner or the contractor was present on the parcel for over two weeks prior to the fire, which would pretty well rule out burning construction debris or other materials in the fire pit as it first appeared. At this time the cause of the fire is undetermined.”