Fairfield grass fire contained, but 6 homes burned

Firefighters clean up after a grass fire, fueled by summer gusts, spread to several homes near Interstate 80 in Fairfield. Fire crews and shifting winds spared much of the neighborhood. Firefighters clean up after a grass fire, fueled by summer gusts, spread to several homes near Interstate 80 in Fairfield. Fire crews and shifting winds spared much of the neighborhood. Photo: Ken James, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Ken James, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Fairfield grass fire contained, but 6 homes burned 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

A fire ripped through a Fairfield neighborhood Tuesday evening, destroying two homes and burning four more before firefighters were able to tamp down the wind-fueled blaze.

Darrol Prill returned home from work at Travis Air Force Base in time to watch 10-foot flames jump over his neighbor's fence and set his backyard redwood porch ablaze. The fire then engulfed his single-story home. Within a few hours, his neighbor's house was gutted, reduced to a charred frame.

"I just got home as the fire was cresting into the backyard, so I sat and watched everything go," said Prill, 53, a retired Air Force technical sergeant who works at the base as a civilian. "I could see flames coming over the back of my neighbor's fence."

About 200 firefighters from four counties responded to the seven-alarm, 40-acre blaze on Marigold Drive just east of Interstate 80, said Fairfield Fire Chief Tony Velasquez.

The fire started a little before 4 p.m. in vegetation adjacent to the freeway before jumping a nearby creek and skirting a cinderblock sound wall, Velasquez said. The inferno hit a wood-framed roof before moving into the trees and through the neighborhood via the treetops, he said.

"We were definitely overwhelmed when we first got here with the rapid spread of the fire, but we got in front of the blaze and knocked it down," Velasquez said.

The dry, blustery weather didn't help, said Fairfield police Sgt. Rob Lenke.

"The wind was not cooperating with us - it blew extremely fast," he said.

Prill lost his home but said firefighters recovered his most prized possessions: a portrait of his son and daughter, who both serve in the military; and his Air Force retirement plaque, an array of medals and insignia in a glass case along with an American flag. The flag, Prill said, flew over the battleship Arizona on the 60th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

About 50 people were evacuated from the neighborhood at the height of the blaze, as authorities feared that gusts could spread the fire quickly.

But for some, the shifting winds were a blessing.

Pat Harland said she had stepped into her backyard on Honeysuckle Drive, one block east of Marigold, at around 4 p.m. when she saw black smoke billowing from a row of homes behind her. Harland felt a strong wind blowing west toward the freeway - and not toward her home and neighborhood.

"I'm so grateful the wind was blowing that way," she said. "If not, oh my gosh, it'd be a nightmare. Maybe it wouldn't have been two homes, it would have been the entire neighborhood."

Kalpesh Patel, owner of the America's Best Value Inn nearby, smelled smoke in the afternoon and climbed onto a third-story balcony to see flames raging half a mile away. At first, Patel said he feared the flames would jump to his hotel, but firefighters and wind helped keep the blaze at bay.

He said residents gathered to watch the fire outside his business and were relieved to see it under control by 6 p.m.

"We're not scared anymore," Patel said. "But we were at first."