Crews monitor 'smoldering' hillsides in Vallejo after fire near Cal Maritime Academy
VALLEJO, Calif. (KGO) -- Crews were busy clearing trees from the charred hillsides around the Cal Maritime campus in Vallejo, fearing the dry eucalyptus could erupt again.
"And you can see up here it's still smoldering and may reignite," says Chief Dannny Gordon, Cal Maritime Police Department.
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The remains of blackened palm trees lay on the ground, just a few yards from the Academy's famed training ship Golden Bear, anchored in the shadow of the Carquinez Bridge. Higher on the hillside, North Bay Representative Mike Thompson surveyed the damage with State Senator Bill Dodd.
"The Vallejo fire department did a great job, and I have to assume it was CAL FIRE who came in and did a chemical drop on this thing early," says Dodd.
"We have to figure out where we go from here, we need a continuous and safe source of energy throughout the north State and that's a big priority," echoed Thompson.
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The perimeter of the campus was dotted with reminders of how close this fire came to inflicting significant damage or worse. The burned out vehicles in one parking lot belonged to students who were evacuated before the fire became an imminent threat.
Many of the Cal Maritime students were either returning home, or are being put up by host families in the area. The exception, volunteers who are staying behind to stand watch aboard the Golden Bear.
"We have students standing watch on the ship, keeping an eye on the engines. Obviously you have to have power running to the ship, so somebody has to monitor all the sensors and things like that," explains spokesperson Bobby King.
