TRACY -- Sunday's destructive four-alarm fire in several northeast Tracy neighborhoods sent residents fleeing for their lives, displaced several families, and damaged or destroyed 11 structures.
No one was reported injured, but one family said more than 50 exotic birds were destroyed and one dog was lost. It was described by one fire official as a "little firestorm."
"We just ran out right away," homeowner Rebecca Villena said Monday outside the charred remains of her home on Royal Court, the short cul-de-sac off Colony Drive where the most damage occurred.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to Battalion Chief Scott Arganbright with the South San Joaquin County Fire Authority, but it was fueled by afternoon winds estimated at 20 miles per hour that spread it quickly through dry brush and up several tall cypress trees that sent embers across rooftops, streets and even railroad tracks into a nearby mobile home park.
The fire was reported shortly before 5 p.m. spreading quickly from the backyard of a home on Cabrillo Drive, northwest of Grant Line Road and North MacArthur Drive. From there, it jumped east across a storm drain culvert into backyards on Royal Court and Boleyn Court, spreading to about a half-dozen homes and damaging just as many vehicles.
Visible flames burned up tall cypress and palm trees "like torches," according to Arganbright, sending embers down wind into the Green Oaks Mobile Home Park on the other side of some railroad tracks.
Calling for mutual aid from Stockton, Lathrop-Manteca, Manteca and Tracy Defense Depot, 45 firefighters responded and were spread out over a wide area, knocking the various fires out in about 90 minutes.
Among the 11 structures impacted, only one was considered a complete loss. Another home on Royal suffered major damage, according to Arganbright, while other homes lost porches, sheds or windows and sustained smoke damage.
No mobile homes were damaged, but one shed in the park was destroyed.
Keia Jackson bought her home on Royal Court in February. She and her two sons, ages 16 and 5, were at home when they noticed the flames and smoke coming from the backyard of the home across the culvert.
"It started getting really smoky. We could hear the crackling from the flames in their backyard," Jackson said while pointing to the back of the home off Cabrillo Drive.
At first, Jackson began filming the fire, hoping it would stay on the west side of the culvert.
When the smoke became too intense, she went inside.
"Before you know it, the flames had jumped to our side and then the neighbor's trees went up," she said. Jackson got an all-purpose fire extinguisher and attempted to keep the flames out of her backyard, but the wind was so strong it blew the chemical powder back at her.
"It was time to leave. The kids had no shoes. I had no keys. We just left -- leave it all," Jackson recalled.
The family escaped safely, while her home and contents sustained smoke damage and two broken windows.
Her neighbors to the north, the Villena family, were not so lucky. It was their home that was destroyed.
"The wind was so strong. We just ran out right away as the debris just flew over our house. It really happened fast," Villena said.
Her family of 13, who have lived in their home since 2010, plan to rebuild.
Right now, though, they are focused on finding a place to live until that happens.
Contact reporter Joe Goldeen at (209) 546-8278 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGoldeen.
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