The Lopes Fire near Benicia Bridge burned a total of 45 acres Saturday morning, authorities confirm.
The fire began on Lopes Road and smoke began moving towards the Benicia Bridge at around 10:30 a.m. in southern Solano County.
Mike Talamantes told NBC Bay Area that he grabbed what he could and tried to help. “I had a hose and fire extinguisher, had a well is in the back where it started spraying,” he said.
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But one man thinks he knows how the fire may have started. Just down the road, Rosenburg Rodriguez said he had been using a lawn mower.
“The blade is like a metal blade shave the rock in a certain way and it spark it up,” he said.
Rodriguez said on the next pass, he noticed something was wrong.
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“As soon as I turn it on and do another line and I come back with a second line then that’s when I see the fire,” he said. “I started my buddy try to give me a hand we try to stop the fire, but that thing was so windy we couldn’t.”
Rodriguez called 911. Firefighters suggest putting off that type of work in these conditions. Fire officials said that a cause of fire hasn’t been determined yet.
Local crews and Cal Fire responded and were able to keep the fire away from structures. They were concerned about wind and how quickly it might spread.
No damaged buildings have been reported and both ground and air units responded to battle the fire.
Crews were mopping up and say the fire did move toward some eucalyptus groves. They will be on scene for a while checking for hot spots.
Solano County is under a red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service for the North Bay and East Bay hills as well as the East Bay interior valleys from 11 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Monday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
