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Shortly before 1 p.m. Friday Cal Fire aircraft were circling over a residential area in Nice, where a three-story home at 3116 Knob caught fire, according to Northshore Fire Battalion Chief Steve Hart.
Four engines from Northshore Fire, two engines from Cal Fire and one engine from Lakeport Fire responded to the blaze, Hart said.
With the heat being so bad – Hart estimated it was around 103 or 104 degrees – they had extra crews on scene so they could switch the firefighters out quickly.
Hart said the fire extended from the basement area all the way to the attic, which presented a big problem for the firefighters.
He said crews leapfrogged each and other chased the fire from floor to floor. Some crews were pulling out the ceiling to expose the fire so other crews could come in behind them to work on attacking and extinguishing it.
At the same time, Cal Fire had two air tankers and an air attack circling overhead. Hart said they didn't end up needing to drop water, but were there in case the fire got into nearby vegetation.
It took firefighters about 30 minutes to contain the fire, and Hart said they managed to save the house.
“We contained the fire on the north third of the residence and were able to save the reminder of the house all the way up to the main floor,” Hart said.
Hart said the fire's cause was a direct result of overuse of appliances associated with a marijuana grow operation, which was located throughout the home. The appliance usage overloaded the circuits and the fire broke out.
He estimated the home's value to be about $500,000 with about $100,000 damage resulting from the fire.
The home's renter was out of town at the time and the residence was unoccupied, Hart said. There were no injuries to firefighters and no other structures were threatened or damaged.
As the fire was burning in Nice, a wildland fire broke out on Sulphur Bank and North Drive in Clearlake Oaks, according to Northshore Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Pat Brown.
Cal Fire led the response to the five-acre fire, with Battalion Chief Linda Green acting as incident commander, he said.
Brown said Cal Fire sent two aircraft, one helicopter, four engines and two hand crews, with Northshore sending Brown, an engine and a water tender and Lake County Fire sending two engines, a water tender and Battalion Chief Charlie Diener.
Cal Fire also reported a small fire in Upper Lake was quickly contained early Friday afternoon.
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