Firefighters halt 2 Bay Area wildfires
On the heels of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s power shutoffs across Northern California to lessen wildfire danger, two small fires erupted Thursday on San Bruno Mountain and in Moraga.
The 11acre San Bruno Mountain blaze was outside the PG&E shutoff zone and flames rose next to PG&E power lines. The 40acre Moraga fire was within the outage zone, but wasn’t near power lines, fire department officials said. The Moraga fire didn’t threaten any homes but led to the temporary evacuation of about 150 families before dawn.
The two fires were both mostly contained by Thursday afternoon and officials were investigating the causes. They were minor compared to last year’s 153,336acre Camp Fire and 36,807acre Tubbs Fire in
2017. But the two fires underscored the complexity and continued challenges for PG&E and fire officials during high winds and dry conditions.
The San Bruno fire was reported at 10:55 a.m. in Guadalupe Canyon in Brisbane, authorities said. Police and about 30 firefighters were at the scene after the blaze began to spread beneath PG&E’s JeffersonMartin power lines, which traverse a mountain mostly barren of trees. The 230kilovolt lines travel for 27 miles and connect the Jefferson substation in San Mateo County to the Martin substation in Brisbane.
The fire was 60% contained as of 2:10 p.m. on Thursday and wasn’t expected to spread further, city officials said. No structures were endangered, said Clyde Preston, a spokesman for the North County Fire Authority.
PG&E said the San Bruno Mountain area had the lowest category of fire danger, according to the state’s ranking system.
Most of San Bruno Mountain is a state and county park known for its panoramic views and hiking trails. PG&E outage maps show that power was not cut in the area of San Mateo County near the fire.
People were advised to avoid the area where land and air crews were extinguishing the fire. Mandatory evacuations had not been ordered and voluntary evacuations were lifted at 1:05 p.m., officials said.
In the narrow streets near the fire scene, some Brisbane residents were concerned. Valarie Eilert was sitting in her home when she heard sirens before a police officer knocked on her door and told her she could voluntarily evacuate. Having never evacuated before, Eilert grabbed what she deemed essential — clothes, medications, a computer — and left with her poodle terrier.
“I just went downhill and watched the fire,” she said Thursday afternoon.
Eilert said she felt thankful fire officials responded promptly but found it “interesting” power had not been shut off in the area. “Then it happened,” she said, referring to the fire.
Another resident, Lester Gibson, said he was not asked to evacuate but he was worried by the fire and the ongoing power shutoffs, especially considering past fires in the area.
“It gets dry and there’s still a lot of underdeveloped land around here,” he said. “One spark is all you need.”
The Moraga fire, known as the Merrill Fire, which started just before 1 a.m. behind homes on Merrill Circle, was fully contained by 11:15 a.m. About 150 firefighters fought the blaze as winds of about 10 to 15 mph blew smoke through the area.
Sanders Ranch resident Abby Buckley lives on a ridge looking down on the neighborhood. She was asleep in her home with her two daughters when she heard her phone buzzing. It was her husband, who was in New York for business. He had been called by Buckley's brother and sisterinlaw, who also live in Moraga and had started to evacuate. Buckley said she slept through numerous texts alerting residents to evacuate.
The power had gone out in the neighborhood around 10:30 p.m. and the gated community was dark, but Buckley saw a large orange glow and as she looked out her window, with the flames about 200 yards away. She threw on sweats, grabbed her daughters and their labradoodle Stella, and drove down the only exit out of the neighborhood: Sanders Ranch Road.
“I had always thought what would happen if a fire happened here. How would we get out?” Buckley said, standing in the brisk morning air outside St. Monica's Catholic Church.
“After seeing the fire engines in every driveway, I knew they had it,” Buckley said.
Joan Edelsohn got a call to evacuate from her neighbor shortly after 2 a.m. From her porch she saw fastmoving flames about a quartermile away.
“The whole hill was ablaze,” said Edelsohn, standing in the church parking lot wrapped in a number of blankets. “My whole bedroom smelled like smoke.”
By Thursday afternoon, all residents were allowed to return to their homes.
there’s “It gets still dry a and lot of underdeveloped land around here. One spark is all you need.” Lester Gibson, Brisbane resident
San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Anna Bauman, Michael Cabanatuan, Lauren Hernández and Matthias Gafni contributed to this story.