Sparks Start 5-Acre Fire: Nevada County Resident Treated for Exhaustion, Cited for Negligence
By Doug Mattson - Monday, September 18, 2000
Matt Kenner sprays water on a fire that started when he was grinding the top off a 55-gallon drum. (Photo by John Hart)
A Rudd Road resident was cited with a misdemeanor after the grinder he was using sparked a five-acre fire off Bitney Springs Road, which destroyed five vehicles and a boat on Sunday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The resident, Matt Kenner, also suffered heat exhaustion from fighting the flames with a garden hose and went by ambulance to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released.
The fire started while Kenner was using a grinder to cut the top of a 55-gallon drum, said CDF Capt. Specialist Clyde Gamma.
The fire was reported at about 2:15 p.m. from the Oregon Peak Lookout and was also seen from the Banner Mountain and Wolf Mountain lookouts, said CDF Division Chief Tony Clarabut.
About 60 firefighters responded, including crews from CDF, the Penn Valley Fire Protection District and Nevada County Consolidated Fire District.
A CDF tanker plane dropped retardant and a U.S. Forest Service helicopter dropped water on the flames.
"With a little bit more wind, it could've been real significant," Clarabut said. "It's real rough country with a lot of brush, thick brush and hard to get at."
Clarabut estimated damage costs to Kenner's vehicles and boat at about $1,000. He said the destroyed vehicles were in "various states of disrepair" and the boat was old.
Gamma said Kenner was cited for causing a fire because he showed negligence by grinding a short distance from vegetation and didn't have a fire extinguisher nearby.
The fire was in the same area as the devastating 49er Fire of 1988, Gamma said.
He called Sunday's fire "kind of hard to catch" because of temperatures that reached 98 degrees and winds that reached 15 mph.
Clarabut said the fire should serve as a reminder to others to be careful.
"In spite of the rain we've had, we're still in the serious part of fire season, and people need to use due caution," he said.
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