Residents recall narrow escape from Mendocino County blaze

Redwood Valley - Wind-whipped flames lapped at Eric Collin’s truck as he fled a fast-moving fire that destroyed his home and four others and burned through more than 400 acres of brush and oak-studded mountains in Mendocino County between Redwood and Potter valleys.

“It was getting hot,” the building contractor said, recalling his close call with the fire late Saturday afternoon.

By Monday afternoon, the flames were largely gone, along with the homes, six other structures and a number of vehicles, including several belonging to fire agencies. Smoke was still rising in areas of the blackened landscape, which smelled of creosote and reverberated with the sound of chainsaws as firefighters worked to extinguish the remaining hot spots.

The wildfire is one of dozens to recently rip through the state, which has been rendered tinder-dry by three years of drought.

The fire between Redwood and Potter valleys moved so quickly that six firefighters from three agencies - Redwood Valley, Ukiah Valley and Cal Fire - became trapped and were forced to abandon their vehicles and flee the flames on foot, said Pete Brown, Redwood Valley’s assistant fire chief. One reportedly suffered minor burns, he said.

“They were very lucky,” Brown said.

The full extent of the damage to their vehicles, two fire engines and a truck, has yet to be determined because they must remain in place, near Collin’s driveway on Black Bart Trail, until the cause of the fire is determined.

“They’re doing an investigation right now,” said John Bartlett, chief of the Ukiah, Ukiah Valley and Hopland fire departments. He said the Ukiah Valley Fire District engine - valued at between $300,000 and $400,000 - may have been destroyed.

Jenny Shakman is among those who lost their homes. She watched the ridge-top home she had built with her estranged husband go up in flames from Blue Lakes, where she’s been living. Most of her belongings remained in the house, which took about five minutes to burn, she said.

“I watched it burn from the county line as the sun was setting,” she said. “It feels like I survived a hurricane.”

Across the canyon on another ridge top, Eric Holtz, a contractor and former firefighter, went to help neighbors ward off the fire when he realized it was racing toward his house.

“It was just a very fast-moving fire,” he said.

Holtz raced back home, where he used water hoses to prevent the fire from burning his house. Once firefighters arrived, he sped up the road to his workshop, where fire had burned two old flatbed trucks and an equipment trailer. He was able to save the workshop.

Cal Fire said the fire was 80 percent contained as of early Monday evening. More than 200 firefighters remained on scene, working to extinguish stubborn embers and ensure the fire would not reignite.

Firefighters from around California have been mobilizing to battle the current rash of blazes, including several strike teams from Sonoma County. A team of fire engines from Forestville, Occidental, Geyserville, Bennett Valley and Gold Ridge fire departments was deployed in Mendocino County on Monday, with the possibility of moving elsewhere, Central Fire Authority Chief Doug Williams said.

Another team was sent Monday afternoon to the King fire in El Dorado County, which after starting Saturday afternoon already had burned close to 4,000 acres east of Pollack Pines by Monday.

A third, owned by the state Office of Emergency Services but assigned to Sonoma County fire agencies, was being assembled later Monday for dispatch to the Boles Fire in the Siskiyou County town of Weed.

“Northern California is ripping right now,” Santa Rosa Fire Battalion Chief Mark Basque said.

Staff Writer Mary Callahan contributed to this story. You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter.