An evening fire destroyed an unfinished home in Lompico last week and threatened another before it was extinguished by firefighters from the area.
The two-alarm blaze was reported by a neighbor at about 9:42 p.m. July 19 and burned the entire 2½ story residence at 10130 Creekwood Drive in Lompico along with about a ½-acre of surrounding woodland.
The fire also burned the wall of a neighboring home while the homeowner and several neighbors used garden hoses to defend it from the flames.
Battalion Chief David Futch of Zayante Fire was first to arrive.
“We were lucky that night that the winds were calm,” Futch said.
Futch said the defensible space around the home that burned was “marginal,” and he said residents are encouraged to clear at least 30 feet —and ideally 100 feet — around homes to keep them safe from fire.
The home that burned has been under construction for more than a decade, according to neighbor Jim Lovelace who has lived next door for 13 years.
Lovelace was watching the end of the Oakland A’s game on television when he heard the fire.
“I heard an explosion, and then another explosion and I looked out at the deck and the fire was coming up and I called 911,” he said.
Lovelace and two neighbors shut off gas to his house and began hosing it down as the other building burned nearby.
“We wet down the walls and deck — us three saved my house,” he said.
Futch said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Crews from Zayante, Felton, Ben Lomond and Cal Fire including an inmate crew from the Ben Lomond Conservation Corps helped contain the blaze which took three to four hours to fully extinguish, Futch said.
No firefighters were injured and no one was living at the home at the time. It was insured by Farmers Insurance.
At a glance
Fire officials recommend keeping 30 to 100 feet of defensible space around homes. That means:
- Needles and leaves should be cleared from roofs, eaves and rain gutters.
- All flammable vegetation should be cleared from within 30 feet of houses, sheds and all other structures.
- Another 70 feet, ideally, should be made into a reduced-fuel zone by spacing trees and plants apart from each other.
- For information: www.readyforwildfire.org
