STOCKTON, Calif. — At least two homes and three outbuildings were damaged in Stockton Wednesday afternoon after flames from a grass fire spread.
The Stockton Fire Department said the fire started in the grass behind the homes in the 1600 block of Stanford Avenue, near E Harding Way around 1 p.m. The cause is still under investigation.
"The fire started spreading to a fence line and that spread to some outbuildings which then spread to two structures, threatening two additional structures," said Battalion Chief Lenard Gutierrez, adding that no injuries were reported. "We upgraded that grass fire assignment to a first alarm structure fire and then a second and a third alarm."
It was warm and it was windy during the nearly hour-long fire attack. With all of that playing out right across the street, Austin Ferrari did what he could.
"I just grabbed the hose from my backyard and tried to pull it out before it gets over here," said Ferrari moments after dropping the garden hose realizing that the fire was under control. "First thing I did was call my lady, call the grandparents because I have my one-and-a-half-year-old daughter in the house."
Saying Ferrari was concerned for him and his family would be an understatement. Right before he moved into his home in 2020, another fire doors down damaged eight homes.
"There's a lot of dry grass in between a lot of these houses," said Ferrari. "If (flames) picked up one house, it's going to pick up another."
Ferrari and his neighbors just hope that with more summer months ahead, the dry grass behind the homes won't lead to the destruction of any more of them.
"I hope that the city can start doing patrols like weekly to keep the homeless (away) because there's homeless here like every day," said Ferrari. "It could have been a lot worse."
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