Firefighters staging along Avenue E to protect homes

About 200 firefighters are staging around homes where flames from the Pendleton Fire are creeping close. The area firefighters are concerned with is along Avenue E from Fremont Street to Wildwood Canyon Road and up north to Oak Glen Road.

The blaze, which began Monday, swept down to Fremont Heights Mobile Home Park, on the other side of a ridge from Avenue E.

"Once it came over the top, that's when it went squirrely on us," said East Bay Regional Parks Fire Department Battalion Chief Tim August.

Firefighters say the flare-up began as a little puff of smoke on a hill about 6:30 a.m. and spread from there. Firefighters were able to get control of the flare-up about five hours later.

So far, firefighters have been able to save homes from any damage, but one shed was destroyed along Avenue E.

- stacia.glenn@inlandnewspapers.com
- melissa.pinion-whitt@inlandnewspapers.com