A fire Saturday afternoon in eastern Antioch firefighters believe was caused by illegal fireworks damaged one house and threatened others before firefighters contained the flames, two area agencies said on social media.
"We heard a big boom, some fireworks going off," said witness Joe Bass.
The two-alarm fire was reported about 2:15 p.m. Saturday in the 1300 block of Trembath Lane, just north of East 18th Street, according to the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.
"I kind of jumped, from the noise and then later on, we heard screams and we heard everyone running," said Bass' son Joseph.
It started out as a grass fire, but damaged one house and destroyed a shed and some wooden fences. But crews from Con Fire and from the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District saved six houses nearby from the fire.
The flames burned right up to one of Liz Carnero's walls. Firefighters tore through it to make sure the fire didn't get inside.
When she saw flames appraching, she scrambled to get everyone out to safety.
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"I was going to get my husband out in a wheelchair so I kind of panicked because I was just nervous as I checked to make sure the kids were all out of the rooms," Carnero said.
All 10 people inside her house made it out safely but her backyard fence is destroyed.
The biggest concern from residents is how fast the fire moved because of how dry everything is in the area.
"Everything is dead now," Bass said. "After all the rains, the vegetation has over grown. Hopefully California doesn’t burn like it did last year."
The fire was out by about 3 p.m. Saturday and no one was injured.
Firefighters said it does look as if fireworks were the cause, though they don't have any suspects. They reiterated that all fireworks are illegal in Contra Costa County.
