A neighbor believes his lawnmower may have sparked the fire.
Benicia homeowner believes his riding lawnmower accidentally started a 45-acre grass fire today. @CAL_FIRE says fire is contained. #RedFlagWarning pic.twitter.com/JVJQBxKHLB
— Cornell Barnard (@CornellBarnard) May 8, 2021
Anthony Wright called 911, the moment he saw smoke and flames near his property on Lopes Road in Benicia.
"It was scary," said Wright.
Minutes later, the fire was making a run up the hill, fueled by acres of dry grass. CalFire called in extra ground crews and air support to fight it.
Air tankers made low altitude attacks, dropping fire retardant.
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"The eucalyptus caught fire, after the field caught fire, I thought it would domino but they got it," said Wright.
Anthony's Uncle Mike grabbed what he could, to try and put the fire out.
"I got a hose and fire extinguisher went to our well and started spraying," said Mike Talamentes.
But strong winds were no match.
"Given winds we've experienced and dry land, the fire took off rapidly, we augmented with additional resources to extinguish it," said CalFire Battalion Chief Aaron Latta.
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Rosenberg Rodriguez believes he accidentally sparked the fire, while cutting tall grass on his riding lawnmower.
"I got a rock with the lawnmower, it sparked, that's how it started, the winds were so high, this is nothing now," said Rodriguez.
CalFire says it's still investigating the cause of the fire but say a lawnmower shouldn't be used during red flag fire alerts.
Firefighters say one spark is all it takes during Red Flag Fire conditions.
"Hopefully homeowners do their due diligence," said Latta.
Anthony Wright has seen fires before here, he's ready for another long summer.
"One month ago, it was green, now it's golden state, the fires are bad," said Wright.
#BREAKING Grass fire burning near I-680 in #Benicia @CAL_FIRE making drops of retardant & water. @LiveDoppler7 #RedFlagWarning pic.twitter.com/shmt8HiIE4
— Cornell Barnard (@CornellBarnard) May 8, 2021
Timelapse of the last 15 minutes of the fire burning in Solano County. Northerly winds gusting 10-20mph in the area. pic.twitter.com/NZg3Jn3ktO
— Drew Tuma (@DrewTumaABC7) May 8, 2021