2-Alarm Pittsburg House Fire Sends Two People to Hospital

7

An overnight 2-alarm house fire in the City of Pittsburg sent a 5-year-old and her father to the hospital.

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District responded to a home on Apricot Court off Wedgewood at approximately 1:00 am Sunday morning.

According to Battalion Chief Scott Valencia, fire crews arrived on scene to a report of fire shooting out of the roof on the backside of the home and in the backyard. Sheds behind the house were also on fire.

Valencia said with an aggressive fire attack, crews kept the fire to the origin of the first home. Two people were transported to an area hospital for smoke inhalation.

One of the challenges with the fire was the overnight winds along with fire crews just finishing battling a 20-acre vegetation fire in Bay Point. On that fire, crews were rushing against the wind as the fire was being pushed towards houses. Crews were able to prevent the fire from reaching the homes.

Previous Stories:

June Activity:

“The month of June did not disappoint. The month of June is typically our busiest month of the year for overall activity because of the winds and dry grass,” explained Broschard. “We get multiple vegetation fires over the month.”

The chief explained what happens in the City of Antioch and City of Pittsburg in the summer months with the west winds is the dry vegetation is next to houses, in subdivisions, and housing tracts, especially in the month of June, not all the abatement is done so there is a higher risk of fire moving into structures.

He also called it “higher than normal” for June to have 13 structure fires.

Twelve significant vegetation fires occurred across the county. The two most significant events occurred at the old golf course in Pittsburg, where an old maintenance building that caught fire extended into the vegetation. Structure protection was required for homes adjacent to the golf course property. A second fast-moving vegetation fire occurred in Antioch, which also required structure protection of homes adjacent to the incident. A total of 250 acres burned. In both instances, no homes were damaged or lost due to the actions of suppression personnel and aviation assets provided by CAL FIRE.

Thirteen working structure fires occurred during the month of June, the most significant being a fire in an apartment building in Pittsburg. Fire crews pulled two victims out of the apartment. Both were not breathing at the time of the rescue, but they regained spontaneous respirations after treatment. The adult victim was recently listed in stable condition, but the hospital would not release the status of the juvenile victim.