Tracy Press - Grass fire stamped out

August 21, 2008 Tracy, CA

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Grass fire stamped out

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Written by Tracy Press
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Tracy and Lathrop-Manteca fire crews waded into the smoke today to put out a grassfire north of Banta off Canal Boulevard. The fire threatened a few houses but was brought under control. A firefighter puts out the flames of the blaze near Interstate 205 on Tuesday afternoon. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press A fire that might have been started by highway workers welding in the wind consumed 2 acres of tule reeds alongside Canal Boulevard north of Banta and near Interstate 205 on Tuesday. The fire began about 3 p.m. and was contained a half-hour later using five engines and a water tender from the Tracy Fire Department and Lathrop-Manteca Fire Protection District. Two homes downwind were in jeopardy of the flames, but fire crews managed to contain the blaze within 100 yards of them. Firefighters were also concerned that brisk winds could jump thefire over Canal Boulevard. A thick screen of smoke obscures the roadway near the fire. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press "The winds pushed the fire pretty quickly," Division Chief David Bramell said, "but the road kept the fire from spreading too far, and we accomplished protecting the structures and had no actual real dollar loss." The cause of the fire was undetermined, but Bramell said it might have been accidentally started by Caltrans employees who had been welding nearby. The employees were not available for questioning. Bramell also noted that a passing car nearly drove into the back of a fire engine during the thick of the smoke. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 588 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (4) Subscribe to this comment's feed Show/Hide comments ... written by rjfyrman , July 29, 2008 I'd just like to take a minute and thank the young couple in the nice blue lowered Chevy truck who nearly killed me and one of my crewman today during this fire. It has not even been 60 days since our last moron drove through the smoke and nearly killed two of my brothers and destroyed a fire engine, and it happened again today on this fire. We were literally 5 feet away and this truck busts through the smoke and nearly runs us over, and without quick thinking by my firefighter spraying his windshield with the hose (I swear I'm not making this up!) to get his attention, he would have plowed into the back of another fire engine! And before all of you so called experts debate the placement of the fire engine again, today we were parked with the flow of traffic, him and his girlfriend just decided to drive through smoke so thick we could not even breathe! What will it take?? A couple of firefighter funerals to get the message that when there is smoke, 99.9% of the time there are firefighters and firetrucks nearby!! Lucky for blue truck boy, the CHP was still on the way or you would probably be in jail tonite wondering why you were so ignorant. All we ask is for you to think about what you do and how you drive around emergency vehicles...it is literally our biggest fear; getting hit on one of our freeways or busy streets in town. If there is smoke, there is fire, plain and simple, and there will be firetrucks there somewhere. Don't think its safe to drive through and get lucky, nothing is too important to take that risk. Finally, for blue truck boy...you are one lucky son of a gun that we saw you before you hit us or that firetruck, your girlfriend would be missing you big time while you were doing 10-20 wearing a flowered pink sun dress at DVI. ... written by rdnkbrat , July 30, 2008 Kudos to you for posting that! I'm so glad to hear that all of you are okay, not so worried for MORON blue truck boy though ! He may not ever read this or even be able to read at ALL but I'm sure somebody out there knows who this moron is and reads it to him! He may not get a clue but hopefully his girlfriend may MAKE him get a clue and make him slow down next time. She won't be able to miss him while he's at DVI for possibly hurting her fatally in a crash like that could have been. PUNK!...... ... written by Dave Hardesty , July 30, 2008 I would bet the person driving the pickup doesn't pull to the side of the road and stop for emergency vehicles either. My hat is off to the engineers who have to drive these rigs through busy intersections while other oblivious people are listening to their tunes so loud they can't hear sirens or yakking it up on there cell phones instead of paying attention to their driving. You guys do a marvelous job and keeping everyone alive and I am appreciative of your efforts to do so. I pray every time that I hear a siren for you to reach your destinations safely so that you can help those who so desperately need your help. Dave Hardesty ... written by LAM , July 30, 2008 To rjfyrman, I am your neighbor and I only saw the smoke and fire trucks. I did not go and snoop at the activity! About 20 minutes ago, I seriously believe I saw that nice lowered blue truck you are talking about. He was driving nicely today, but I have seen that truck before and many others drive through this area like there wheels are on fire or something. I am glad you remained safe and I really hope drivers learn how to behave and act during emergency situations. This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment. You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 July 2008 )