Evacuations lifted after containment of 6-alarm fire in Pacifica

PACIFICA, Calif. (KGO) -- Firefighters in Pacifica had their hands full Monday morning as a fire spread quickly in tinder dry brush, threatening homes and forcing evacuations - an unusual situation for January.

Firefighters began knocking on your doors after 5 a.m. trying to get residents up and out of their houses.

"They were very nice and said you have ten to 20 minutes. You might want to get out of here. There's a fire," said Kevin Cox, a resident.

Fires are unusual for this time of year. But the fire didn't seem to care as it spread. It was burning in a steep brushy area that is lined on both sides with homes.

Firefighters say they were worried about what the fire would do, so they put a voluntary evacuation in place for 80 to 90 homes in the Rockaway Beach area. The community center opened up to give evacuees a place to go, but some stayed behind to watch and try to help.

"My first reaction was to grab a hose and wet around the house, feel like we did something," explained Levon Kassabian, also a resident.

"I'm still going in circles right now. One minute it calms down, and then the next thing it flares up again. I am just praying everything's okay," said resident Veronica Arnest.

It kept flaring up because of 10-15 mile per hour winds.

The fire is still under investigation, but it was wind driven, pushing it downhill.

"It's odd, it really is with the weather. It's really dry really warm weekend," said one person.

Firefighters stopped the fire before it reached any homes and no one was hurt. It burned about six acres.

Residents say it's hard to believe this happened in January, but some are remaining optimistic about the rest of the season.

"It is January and we need the rain miracle, but we still have a couple months."

Fire officials say the was fully contained by about 7:30 a.m. and residents were allowed to return to their homes around 8:30 a.m., Preston said.

About 40 residents went to an evacuation center that had been set up at the Pacifica Community Center at 540 Crespi Drive, he said.

Fire crews will be in the area all day today to cut live and burned vegetation and to put out any small fires that might spark back up, Preston said.

Bay City News contributed to this story.