photo credit: ConFire
photo credit: ConFire
Youths playing with fire was cited as the cause of a vegetation fire Wednesday afternoon that destroyed a house and an estimated 15 vehicles and some other equipment in the 100 block of Cambark Court in Martinez, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said.
The fire was reported shortly before 2 p.m. and was quickly elevated to two alarms. It was brought under control and confined to the house and a surrounding storage lot about two hours later. The cause is under investigation.
“Due to a rapid and aggressive response about 12 neighboring structures were protected,” said fire district Capt. George Laing.
District investigators determined that the fire started in a backyard on Arthur Road, where three youths had been “playing with fire, that got out of hand in current conditions.”
“There was a big column of black smoke that visible quite a way away,” Laing said.
photo credit: Craig Cannon
An extensive mop-up was needed after the fire was contained, the district said.
There were no injuries to residents or firefighters, but three people were displaced.
only poor people have 15 vehicles….
to correct your assumption was a retired mechanic with many project vehicles and a shop who was out there fighting the fire before help came and lost his home to ignorance.
nyb~
Thanks for sharing that info. Hopefully the Parents, Insurance Policies, will cover the damages to this guy.
Sorry they lost their home. But, if you look at the property (before the fire) on Google Earth, it looked like a junk yard.
I thought the same, AJR.
TV news clips showing the area also showed an abundance of cars all up and down the street & neighborhood.
So what? What is your point with this observation? That the poor deserve to be burned? Don’t expend empathy on these people because they might be poor? Why is this your response to tragedy?
Jay Leno must be penniless with all those cars he has.
Sheesh! Those kids…… whatcha gonna do?
Youts?
@Cowellian…Fred Gwynne brought a lot of entertainment over the years ever since I was just a whippersnapper. He played many different characters, he was also a Harvard graduate.
Well….. they could work it off over the summer to pay for the damages.
Dr. Jellyfinger,
Well when we were kids that would have happened along with other suitable punishments, but now…..Kids don’t work, kids are not punished and the parents will have an excuse or the dipstick parents will be saying “kids will be kids”
They can start by helping the owner clean up the property. And then help pay for the classic cars which are probably priceless.
Kids!
I don’t know what’s wrong with kids today.
Kids!
Who can understand anything they say?
Kids!
You can talk and talk till your face turns blue.
Kids!
But they still do just what they want to do.
Kids!
Why can’t they be like we were, perfect in every way.
What’s the matter with kids today?
As kids, we got our butts beat if we did stuff that was not right. We were punished if we talked back to elders, and we were grounded if we skipped school. If we were caught playing with “matches” we got our fingers burnt so we would know what happens.
Thats what the matter with kids today is!
I hear ya Dawg…Guess I’m a lucky one though.
OverWhelmed,
Pretty spot on. And if we destroyed anyone’s property or possessions our parents would have paid the bill but we would have been made to clean up the persons property and work at whatever until we paid our parents back either monetarily or by manual labor around the home, family members homes or neighbor’s homes
Dawg, This seem to be something that every generation talks about. There is a 2000 year old quote (Socrates I think) that sounded like it described the sixties generation. Don’t know about you, but I was not a perfect kid, actually as a child pretty good, as a teen ager not so much, although nothing illegal or truly dangerous. Helped I was a teen ager in rural Denmark and when I wanted to go to clubs or parties in the town closets to me (10 miles) I had to ride my bike or take the train.
Hanne, You are correct, every generation does believe they were better behaved. I was being facetious when I posted the quote. “What’s The Matter With Kids Today,” is from a song that Paul Lynde, Maureen Stapleton, and Dick Van Dyke sang in the 1963 movie, Bye, Bye, Birdie. You can find it on YouTube.
I know I had my share of mischievous adventures growing up.
Very sad. Hopefully they were able to get their pets, if they had any, out of the house.
Yes they where able to get their pets out
Damn that sucks some of those vehicles could’ve been classics or just sentimental projects the owner should get to backhand those kids at least once hard in the face. You know their parents aren’t. If I was one of those kids my dad would grab me by the neck and lift me 3 feet off the ground at that age
You are assuming a lot, you don’t know the parenting style of the kids involved. Also reading the story there is no mentioning of whom the kids belonged to, could be one or more were a child of the owner of the property that burned. Rather than physical punishment, I think these kids should be taken down to fire station and have a stern talking too from a fire fighter, perhaps shown pictures of how destructive and dangerous fires are. Yes, they should be punished by their parents, but not sure physical punishment is the answer, certainly not without educating them about the consequence of a fire.
Every single day someone has started a fire in drought conditions. Wonderful! The stupidity is shocking or, maybe night.
The unjustifiable closure of our schools by the teacher’s union was not a victimless crime. Case in point.
Now do you think the schools should be back open?
Of course when school is open no kid ever plays with matches after school is over! Or during summer vacation. Sorry, you comment makes very little sense.
Couple of 10 year old’s playing with matches down at the creek on a hot summer day. What could go wrong? Next thing you know…….. I wasn’t publicly scorned or publicly punished, for everyone new that my parents would step up and they would Parent! And boy did they.
The kids who set the fire should be responsible along with their parents. The parents hopefully have some type of homeowners insurance and a claim should be filed by the poor man who lost his property against them.
Those kids should not have been playing with matches, fire, etc., there is no excuse for this.
The fire could have caused much more damage-hope this is not swept under the carpet as usual.
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Hopefully the affected property owners are insured.
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But a civil suit against the youths’ parents will likely be pending.
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Were they running with scissors too?
“Teach your children well…” – Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
I have seen a few house fires but never saw a fireball like that from one. Must have been gas tanks exploding.
Shouldn’t have been in a residential area. I wonder if there possible code violations. Looked like a junk yard to me. Glad it’s not in my neighborhood.
In video from KCRA, can see the power transmission tower in left side of video. As large fire ball reaches lines at about 4 second mark, is the sound of power transmission lines shorting out, a very unique sound.
Would imagine fire dept and city are going to be unhappy . . . . . .
https://tinyurl.com/w2w8u7zk
Odd sounding. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that noise before.
Wow what where these kids doing playing around with matches or whatever it was they were “playing” with. I mean come on Kids should be playing with a ball or toys ect not stuff that can cause a fire. How devastatingThat family Lost everything due to 3 juvenile delinquencies basically
What kind of hoarder has 15 cars on his property? I could see that fire from the freeway as I drove past Arthur Rd on 680.
Why are you labeling the victim that lost everything they had at the hands of someone else’s carelessness?
It was reported the owner is a retired mechanic and likely had project cars.
A little compassion can go a long way.
I was a fire bug as a kid. I didn’t want to burn down houses, just had a curiosity of fire. I burnt our backyard weeds down……it started with myself and neighbor trying to light a sparkler or something fireworks related.
I don’t know how my dad did it or who he knew, but he arranged me getting a talking to by the Fire Chief. I was taken to their large facility (it was the old high school building in Antioch, 4th Street I believe). I was in the Office ….I thought I was going to be sentenced and go to jail!
I never messed with matches or fire again. Ironically, I was up there at Cambark ct yesterday (I’m not a firefighter). You might think that homeowner had a bunch of junk, but his neighbors spoke highly of him. His property was burning and he still bothered to move his neighbors truck before it burned.
I’m surprised city/county zoning laws allowed 15 cars to be parked in your yard.
Actually as it turns out, the kids were just conducting a “Mostly peaceful protest” No charges will be filed, all is forgiven.
Reported that teenagers lit a tennis ball on fire and hit it into the brush.
Guaranteed those kids don’t get any type of discipline for this either. The parents will have some kind of excuse, or even will blame the victim. That’s how things work now a days. Kids are a problem in school? Blame the teacher. Attitude problem in sports? Blame the coach. Playing with fire and burn down a neighbors house? Well they shouldn’t have had so many cars, or flammable items in their yard. No accountability or responsibility for anything. Heart goes out to the victims, hope they get some sort of retribution, however I highly doubt it .
Years ago my friend caught her mothers bed on fire while the mom was sleeping in the bed. She panicked and hid. The firemen found her in the closet.