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SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KTVU) -- As the Bay Area braces for a heat wave in the coming days, fire agencies are warning about rising fire danger.
"The winds were our big challenge," Santa Rosa Fire Battalion Chief Jack Piccininni told KTVU at the scene of a Monday afternoon fire that damaged a house and destroyed some outbuildings.
"This fire spread quite rapidly because of the weather conditions," said Piccininni.
High heat and wind this time of year, plus drought-dry fuels, are a combustible combination.
The fire on Corby Avenue in southern Santa Rosa was only about an acre in size, but caused about $100,000 damage.
It started when wind blew power lines together, which exploded a transformer, sending sparks and burning debris raining down on a grassy lot.
"The fire went up underneath the eaves of the house, into the attic and into the garage," explained Piccininni. "And it was threatening homes on both sides."
Crews took positions at those homes and kept the fire from spreading.
In Contra Costa County on Monday, strong delta winds pushed a grass fire to 37 acres.
It started when some welders mending a fence at a cattle-ranch tried to jumpstart a vehicle and the off-road vehicle caught fire.
Located in the hills of Bay Point with remote access roads, it was a challenge to fight, but no structures were threatened.
All over the Bay Area, and especially where homes are nestled among vegetation, it is time to be especially careful.
'It was pretty close, a very hot fire, " recalled San Rafael resident Peter Fisher, who dodged disaster in the Santa Venetia hills earlier this month,
An afternoon fire shot up a steep hillside, sped by the wind, and was perilously close to catching his wooden deck on fire.
Arriving fire crews made the wise decision to race straight to the top of the fire and hit it hard with foamy water.
They stopped it before it burned his house, or any of his neighbors. Again, it was not a big fire, but it carried potentially big consequences.
"Winds are blowing pretty good this time of year, " noted San Rafael Fire Captain Nathan Clark. "And vegetation's dry, especially with the drought."
Resident Fisher told KTVU he is very grateful for the swift action that saved his home of ten years.
Since the fire, he cut down a half dozen bay trees which grew up to his deck. He plans to be more aware of "defensible space" around his home from now on.
"The take-away is, that even low grass you don't think would burn because it's a foot high, is dry and will go very quickly, " he observed.
Or as Captain Clark put it, "July is burning like October."