Misplaced fireplace ashes could be Forestville house fire cause

Fireplace ashes moved into a plastic container may have started a fire at a Forestville home Sunday afternoon.

Forestville fire investigators Monday were going to examine the burned area at the Skyline Road property but Chief Max Ming said the hot ashes are a likely culprit.

Residents told firefighters they’d been watching the Oakland Raiders football game at a different location and came home before the game ended - the Raiders were losing badly. They’d arrived at the rural canyon home in the Hacienda area to find a small fire burning between their home and a shed, Ming said.

Firefighters were called at about 4:10 p.m. and found residents and neighbors putting out flames with garden hoses. They’d knocked it back and firefighters finished the job, extinguishing flames climbing an exterior wall of the house and moving into the attic. There was damage to the newly remodeled kitchen and exterior, which the chief estimated at $10,000 or less.

The fire was a cautionary tale for how to handle hot fireplace ashes. “They moved them from a metal bucket – which was a great start – to a plastic waste can,” Ming said.

The heat from the ashes melted the plastic and likely sparked the fire, he said. “I’m glad they came home early.”

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport.