Fire destroys 4 east Petaluma homes

A fire Tuesday afternoon that began in dry brush on the side of Highway 101 in Petaluma quickly engulfed several homes on Stuart Drive.

Multiple agencies responded to the five-alarm structure fire that burned 14 homes, destroying four of them. No serious injuries were reported in the blaze, according to Jeff Holden, Petaluma Fire Department battalion chief, though two residents were treated for minor burns.

“Everyone got out alright,” he said.

He said a broken gas line on one of the houses fueled the fire until PG&E could shut off the gas.

Personnel from 16 firefighting agencies worked to douse the flames that engulfed the stately eucalyptus trees at the intersection of Highway 101 and East Washington Street. The involved houses on Stuart Drive back up to the freeway. CalFire sent a wildland response team, including a helicopter, which circled the fire, dropping buckets of water.

The fire sent a thick cloud of black smoke billowing into the air across Petaluma as residents were evacuated from about a dozen houses in the area of Stuart and McKenzie drives.

The Petaluma Police Department directed evacuees and their family members to the meet at the Safeway parking lot in the Washington Square Shopping Center at 301 South McDowell Blvd., according to a release from the agency.

Residents gathered at intersections to watch firefighters battle the flames near the pedestrian overcrossing that leads to the Target shopping center. Other residents wielded garden hoses, dousing their homes with water as a precaution while white ash rained down on the neighborhood.

Donny Brillhart, a mover who lives three houses from one of the fully engulfed structures, said he sprayed his backyard furniture with water, but it still melted in the intense heat.

“I was just sitting here and said, ‘what’s that falling from the sky?’ It was like Mt. St. Helens with all the ash,” he said. “Everything in my backyard just melted. A eucalyptus tree was on fire. It looked like it started from the freeway.”

Highway 101 was closed at Lakeville Highway, according to CHP. By 5 p.m., the freeway was reopened to traffic, according to the CHP.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Holden said. The estimated cost of the damage is $1.5 million, he said. He said the dry, hot, windy conditions likely contributed to the fire’s spread.

“It’s been a long, dry summer, and the last couple days have been very hot,” he said.

The Red Cross was called to help with temporary shelter for residents.

(Contact Hannah Beausang at hannah.beausang@arguscourier.com. Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)