Smoke could be seen for miles as fire crews in the East Bay battled a three-alarm vegetation fire Thursday afternoon.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze by 7 p.m. The fire charred about 40 acres near a power plant in Pittsburg, a fire captain said.
The blaze was reported around 3:15 p.m. near the intersection of Willow Pass Road and West 10th Street, according to a Contra Costa County Fire Protection District dispatcher.
The fire was upgraded to a third alarm and had burned roughly 40 acres of grass, brush and trees, according to fire Capt. Robert Marshall.
Marshall said the blaze threatened a few power lines connected to the nearby NRG Energy, Inc. natural gas power plant but was not a threat to any structures at the plant, including large tanks previously used for fuel storage.
Contra Costa Fire Inspector George Laing said a fire of this nature at this time of year is troubling.
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“We’re concerned that there is such aggressive fire behavior, this time of year, early in the season,” Laing said. “We’ve had a historic drought, and we know that the fire season is gonna be bad.”
Willow Pass Road from Range Road to Beacon Street in Pittsburg was closed during the fire.
A firefighter was taken to the hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation.
Officials said a cause has yet to be determined.
#10thstreetIC pic.twitter.com/eyXw8OzBTD — PIO (@ContraCostaFire) March 21, 2014
CCCFPD Veg Fire Pic Pittsburg pic.twitter.com/JCyodWZEZi — PIO (@ContraCostaFire) March 20, 2014
pic.twitter.com/F3SA70YcG3 — PIO (@ContraCostaFire) March 21, 2014
Bay City News contributed to this report.
