Paso Robles fire fully contained after destroying 2 homes and damaging 9 others
A 15-acre fire that broke out in the Salinas Riverbed and destroyed or damaged several homes in Paso Robles was fully contained Tuesday afternoon, the city said in a news release.
The River Fire began around 1:55 p.m. Monday and quickly spread, spurring evacuations and knocking out power as it jumped South River Road into the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
As of Tuesday morning, evacuation orders were still in effect for 98 households, according to a city news release. Firefighters expected to lift the evacuation order for the remaining households by 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to the most recent update.
Two homes were destroyed by the fire — a mobile home on Almond Street and a house on Creston Road.
No other structures had been lost as of Tuesday morning, but a total of nine buildings were damaged, according to the release.
The fire started in the riverbed area near South River Road and Navajo Avenue, according to PulsePoint.
After flames jumped South River Road, police evacuated 559 residents spanning over seven acres as the fire continued to spread.
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PG&E reported that all power was restored to the area Tuesday morning after downed power lines left about 2,426 customers without power Monday.
Around 2,300 customers had their power restored by Monday night, and the remaining power outages were restored in the morning.
Street closures remained in effect Tuesday morning for River Road from Creston to Navajo, Creston Road from River Road to the west entrance of Ferro Lane, Capitol Hill, Elm Court and Almond Street.
The city said an evacuation center at the Paso Robles Senior Center, 270 Scott St., would remain open as long as evacuation orders were in place. Anyone needing assistance with animal evacuations can call the North County Animal Hospital at 805-238-5882.
Officials have not provided any information about how the fire began.
‘Fire from all directions’
On Monday night, smoke lingered in the air hours after the the fire burned through Paso Robles’ Capitol Hill neighborhood, leaving behind a trail of charred structures and vehicles.
The flames seemed to hopscotch through the area — in one case, destroying two cars and a trailer but leaving a bike in the same path virtually unscathed.
At least one house in the neighborhood was almost completely burned. The fire burned behind that property and skirted along the back fences of other homes clustered nearby.
On Monday evening, the buzz of chainsaws could be heard as firefighters mopped up and people wandered through the burn area to survey the damage.
Jon Waterfield helped defend a friend’s Capitol Hill home from the fire as the wind drove flames quickly up the dry hillside. He sprayed the grass around the home with a hose, and then a passer-by pulled up with a shovel and started helping him dig a fire break.
Within 10 minutes, the fire was burning close to the break they were creating, Waterfield said.
“It was really intense,” he said. “I’ve never really fought any fire like that. It was pretty hot and smoky.”
Waterfield said they were able to keep the flames at bay just long enough for a bulldozer to come through and complete the fire break.
“I wasn’t prepared,” he said. “I figured it was just going to be a little fire up the hill, and then all of a sudden it’s on our doorstep. It was just really intense.”
Waterfield also watched fire retardant being sprayed in the neighborhood and a helicopter dumping a load of water on a nearby house. He also said he saw a power transformer explode, which added to the flames.
“It just was fire from all directions,” Waterfield said. “It was surrounding us.”
This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 10:54 AM.
