USA – Two Boys Suspected In Benicia Brush Fire
Two Boys Suspected In Benicia Brush Fire
13 June 2007
published by cbs5.com
(BCN) BENICIA Two boys are being held responsible for a fire that decimated around 25 acres of open space in Benicia on Tuesday, the deputy fire chief said Wednesday.
A 10 and 12-year-old were playing with lighters when it was dry and hot and “the fire took off and ended up going to three alarms,” Benicia Deputy Fire Chief Gene Gantt said.
The boys will go to juvenile probation and their parents may have to pay for the damage caused by the blaze, Gantt said.
“Parents are responsible for their underage kids. The last time we had a fire that kids started there was $100,000 in damage,” which parents had to pay some of, he said.
Tuesday’s fire extended into back yards of nearby homes and threatened 45 to 50 homes between Turner, Larkin and Panorama drives in Benicia.
Heat from the fire was so extreme that the windows of some homes shattered. One home suffered about $70,000 in damage, Gantt said.
Firefighters fought the blaze, which included 30-foot flames, for about four hours. The fire was contained at around 2:35 p.m.
The flames spread quickly because homeowners did not have fire retardant plants and had not cleared surrounding dry vegetation, Gantt said.
The original article and a video with interesting scenes are provided on this web page of CBS5: http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_164172507.html
