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Quail Fire in Copperopolis determined to be equipment-initiated fire
Copperopolis, CA CAL Fire investigators didn’t have to search much to determine what sparked the vegetation fire Wednesday in the Copperopolis area of Calaveras County.
The image in the image area of the mower and charred grass is more than sufficient proof. CAL Fire’s official wording for the cause is Unsafe Equipment Use. The flames erupted in the 1900 block of Quail Hill Road near Little John Road in the Copper Cove Subdivision, west of Obyrnes Ferry Road, as originally shown here.
CAL Fire spokeswoman Emily Kilgore told Clarke Broadcasting that this incident highlights several issues with lawn equipment. The first; using the right tool for the job. A riding lawn mower or brush or even a push mower, these are really meant for well-manicured lawns, not the native grasses we tend to see in the foothills, details Kilgore. The appropriate choice for this would be a weed eater. Avoid using a blade on it. Use only string weedkillers. The second issue was timing as this fire started around 2:30 p.m. Anytime community members use gasoline-powered equipment, anything that can create a spark can create a devastating fire, Kilgore advised, adding: So we suggest people use it. equipment before 10 am and it must always have a spark arrester.
Since the start of this year, says Kilgore, we have seen fires break out due to the use of the equipment. The other part of the uses of the equipment also includes the grinding and welding operations and we have also seen fires due to these. CAL Fire also recommends that it be imperative, when using garden equipment, to also periodically check for debris buildup near the engine, exhaust and blade bridges and remove rocks. of the work area.
To support these safety guidelines, Kilgore has given this sobering message, Historically, in the Tuolumne-Calaveras unit, the second to third cause of fires in the unit is the use of hazardous equipment. It varies from year to year between vehicle fires and equipment use, as the second and third cause.
Written by Tracey Petersen.
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