750-Acre Fire Contained; 8 Homes Burned
A 750-acre wildfire that destroyed eight homes, left four families homeless, killed a litter of puppies and 140 chickens was contained Friday, a Department of Forestry spokesman said.
“It was completely controlled at 8 a.m. and crews are just mopping up now,” said forestry spokesman Chris Lofstrom.
“It caused a loss of 8 homes, 5 sheds, 5 cars, 4 trucks, 2 motorcycles, 140 chickens and 9 puppies,” Lofstrom said.
The fire, thought to have been started by a “smoke lamp” used in beekeeping, caused an estimated $250,000 damage in a low-income area 10 miles east of Clearlake Oaks, 100 miles north of San Francisco.
The Red Cross housed families left homeless by the fire in hotels and collected food and clothing for them.
Most of the estimated $250,000 in losses occurred at a large mountaintop vault used by AT&T; Corp. to store communications equipment. Firefighters managed to save about $400,000 worth of equipment there, Lofstrom said.
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