Fire crews strike down fast-moving blaze near Pleasanton

ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- It was a close call Monday morning for residents of one Pleasanton neighborhood as a fast-moving fire swept up a hill near the I-680 freeway.

The 20-acre fire singed a home and a barn near Happy Valley Road but there was no major damage.

This fire signals just how deep and dangerous the drought has become.

By 10:30 a.m., there were two brush fires burning near Pleasanton, with one dangerously close to homes.

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"Luckily we got back from vacation last night, so all our bags were packed. My wife said throw everything in the car, so I had everything in the car because we didn't see a lot of fire department right away," neighbor Eric said.

Thanks to helicopter drops, firefighters from several different agencies were able to get the three-alarm fire under control fairly quickly.

"To have a fire of this magnitude at 10:30 in the morning is rare for us. Normally we see fires of this size late in the afternoon when the fuels have heated up all day," Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department Chief Joseph Testa said.

Neighbor Carolyn Zalewski first heard the ruckus created by the fire then went down the street to take photos of the burning ridge near her home.

"We just started hearing all this aircraft flying really low over the house. It sounded like a war or something," she said.

Crews stayed on scene for some time after the flames died down, knowing there could be a lot more like this before the fire season comes to an end.