California residents question open gates after fire forces evacuations on Fourth of July
Residents in a Lincoln neighborhood are praising the quick response of firefighters after a brush fire forced them to evacuate on the Fourth of July
By Conor McGill
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LINCOLN, California (KOVR) — Residents in a Lincoln neighborhood are praising the quick response of firefighters after a brush fire forced them to evacuate on the Fourth of July, but many are now questioning why gates leading into the development were left open during the holiday.
The fire broke out Friday evening near Bickford Ranch Road and Sierra College Boulevard, burning on the edge of a Toll Brothers development and prompting evacuations on Poppy Hill and Lyles Lane.
“There’s gates, so you wonder why they’re not closed, especially on the Fourth of July when there’s people up here, empty streets, empty lots,” said one resident who was evacuated overnight.
Some neighbors believe closing the gates could have prevented the fire from spreading so close to homes.
“If the gates were closed, I don’t think any of this would’ve happened,” another resident said.
Others described the tense moments when they rushed home and saw the flames.
“We live right down the hill, and you could see the flames and smoke,” said one evacuee. “The fire engines actually responded super quick.”
Cal Fire Placer County Fire Battalion Chief Jeremy Rochholz said steep slopes, grass, oak woodland, and downed limbs created dangerous conditions and helped the fire hold heat.
“With the slope and the fuels here, we have some grass oak wood area and we have some downed limbs that adds a little more and really holds the heat,” Rochholz explained.
Despite those challenges, no homes or major structures were damaged.
“We got lucky this time,” Rochholz said. “No structures or nothing of major property value was damaged, which was beneficial. As you know, with the winter we had, it really shows at any point we can have devastating wildfires.”
While the cause of the fire remains under investigation, residents are calling for changes.
CBS13 reached out to Toll Brothers for comment about why the gates were left open but did not hear back. A worker at the site said the gates typically remain open during the day for construction crews and that the development does have private security.
Neighbors said they hope the developer makes changes to prevent a similar scare in the future.
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