Vacaville Wildfire Contained, Latest In Streak Of Northern California Fires

A wildfire that blazed through Vacaville in Northern California’s Solano County during the Fourth of July weekend has been 100 percent contained. Officials say the four-alarm fire may have been started by fireworks, burned 320 acres and threatened homes.

Vacaville spokesman Mark Mazzaferro said the fire, which began Saturday, was exacerbated by dry conditions and gusts of winds that reached 40 mph, the Associated Press reported.

“It’s bone dry out there,” Mazzaferro said. “Talk about a recipe for a big fire.”

He added: “Eyewitnesses have told fire officials they saw someone using fireworks in the park shortly before the fire started, but the cause of the blaze is still under investigation.”

ABC News reported the fire began at Vacaville’s Keating Park Saturday evening around 9 p.m. and quickly spread. The fire prompted the voluntary evacuation of 125 homes, but no fire damage was reported. No injuries were reported, but members of the Red Cross aided members of the community who had breathed in significant amounts of smoke. A reported 130 firefighters worked overnight to contain the blaze.

The wildfire in Vacaville, which is between San Francisco and Sacramento, was the latest in a spate of fires that ignited earlier last week in nearby El Dorado County. A fire in the town of Somerset spread over about 25 acres and was likely sparked by lightning while one in Shingle Springs burned 35 acres before being contained. No damage was reported as the result of either blaze.

Andrea Capps, the Shasta-Trinity National Forest spokeswoman, told Reuters the annual fire season runs from June to September.