Tag: Riverbank Fire

TOMORROW MORNING. BACK TO YOU. HEATHER. THANK YOU. WE’RE TRACKING A GRASS FIRE IN STANISLAUS COUNTY. LET’S SHOW YOU THE LATEST IMAGES FROM THE SCENE. THE FIRE DESTROYED A BUILDING AND DAMAGED THREE OTHERS. AND THIS STARTED AS A VEGETATION FIRE NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF RIVERBANK NEAR THE STANISLAUS RIVER, FORCING THE CLOSURE OF PARTS OF HIGHWAY 108, WHICH REMAINS CLOSED TONIGHT. KCRA 3’S ANDRES VALLE IS LIVE IN RIVERBANK, SO CREWS ARE STILL WORKING ON THAT FIRE. WHAT KIND OF PROGRESS ARE THEY MAKING? WELL, THEY’RE DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB OF CLEARING OUT THE HOTSPOTS. THERE’S A COUPLE HOTSPOTS RIGHT BEHIND ME HERE AS FIRE CREWS ARE WORKING ON THIS AREA, THIS PROPERTY THAT WE’RE ON. THERE’S STILL CERTAIN SPOTS THAT ARE STILL GLOWING WITH A LITTLE BIT OF FLAMES ON THE GROUND AS WELL. BUT WE WATCHED THE BULLDOZERS GO BACK AND FORTH IN THIS AREA TO CLEAR SOME DIRT. A LOT OF THIS AREA IS KIND OF A RURAL, A LOT OF FARMLAND. I WOULD SAY OVER HERE. BUT AT ONE POINT IN THE NIGHT THERE WAS ABOUT 40 FIRE ENGINES TACKLING THIS FIRE. THREE STRUCTURES DAMAGED, ONE STRUCTURE LOST TOTALLY. A FAST MOVING GRASS FIRE PROMPTING A LARGE RESPONSE FROM MULTIPLE NEARBY FIRE DEPARTMENTS IN RIVERBANK AS FLAMES BURNED DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO HOMES. WE ARRIVED. THEY FOUND A FIRE DOWN BY THE STANISLAUS RIVER APPEARS TO BE SOME TYPE OF ENCAMPMENT. THEY TRIED TO ACCESS THE FIRE. IT SPREAD VERY QUICKLY. WE HAVE MIXED FUELS OUT HERE. A LOT OF LIGHT, FLASHY FUELS AND HEAVIER FUELS. THE WIND DRIVEN, FIRE CARRYING EMBERS TO AREAS NORTH OF HIGHWAY 108. THE DRY VEGETATION FUELING THE FIRE’S RAPID SPREAD AND CAUSING IT TO BURN IN MULTIPLE AREAS. YOU SEE, THE LINE AS HE WAS ABOUT TO JUMP IN THE SHOWER WHEN THE FIRE STARTED. MY SISTER, SHE CAME INTO MY ROOM SCREAMING LIKE, HEY, THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE! SO ME, I’M THE BIG BROTHER OF THE HOUSE. SO I JUMP IN A SURVIVAL MODE, GRABBED THE WATER HOSE AND I RAN OUTSIDE TRYING TO SPRAY THE FIRE UNTIL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT GETS HERE. USING THIS 50 FOOT GARDEN HOSE TO TRY TO STOP THE FLAMES FROM BURNING HIS HOME AND HIS FAMILY WERE OVERWHELMED, BUT THANKFUL THAT FIRE CREWS ARRIVED IN TIME AND THEIR HOME WAS SPARED. THANK GOD, GIVE ALL GLORY TO GOD FIRST, BECAUSE DEFINITELY THIS COULD HAVE ESCALATED MORE IN THE WHOLE HOUSE. COULD HAVE CAUGHT FIRE. SO LUCKILY IT DIDN’T. AND YEAH, LUCKILY IT DIDN’T. SO BACK OUT HERE LIVE, IT’S STILL EXTREMELY SMOKY. WE HAVE FIRE CREWS STILL OUT HERE WORKING ON THE MOP UP ON THE CLEANUP OF THIS FIRE. THEY WILL REMAIN HERE THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE NIGHT TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING’S OKAY. AS FAR AS THE FIRE GOES, INVESTIGATORS ARE NOW WORKING ON WHAT THE CAUSE OR WHO CAUSED THIS FIRE. BUT I WAS JUST SPEAKING TO A COUPLE OF THE RESIDENTS WHO TELL ME THEY STILL DON’T HAVE POWER AND THEY HAVE NO PLACE TO GO BECAUSE AGAIN, IT’S STILL REALLY SMOKY OUT HERE, AND THEY’RE HOPING THAT THEY DO GET SOME RESOURCES THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. WE’