Barn west of Santa Rosa destroyed in Monday fire that was mistaken for plane crash

A barn just west of Santa Rosa was destroyed Monday in a fire, officials said, which initial reports mistook as a crashed plane.

The Sonoma County Fire District responded about 7:50 p.m. to a report of an aircraft down near Willowside Road, Sonoma County Fire Marshal Cyndi Foreman said.

Firefighters determined a plane had not crashed but found a large amount of smoke coming from a barn in the 3400 block of Piner Road, which is in the flight path of the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, Foreman said.

Crews arrived at the rural property to find the nearly 1,500-square-foot structure engulfed in flames with some spreading into surrounding vegetation.

Burning rubber mats lining the bottom of the storage barn caused thick dark smoke.

Firefighters knocked down the flames in about 20 minutes, and remained at the property until about midnight to extinguish hot spots and clean up remnants of the barn and its contents.

There were no injuries reported.

Heat from the flames damaged a nearby vehicle and a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. transformer, which caused some residences in the immediate area to temporarily lose power.

Fire officials concluded their investigation Tuesday morning and could not determine the exact cause of the fire, though it was likely electrical, they said.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.