Photo: Andrew Goff.

At about 4:15 this afternoon, the Arcata Fire Department District was summoned to a debris fire at a home on the 1100 block of Larry Street, in the Greenview neighborhood. They were told that a fire had escaped from a compost bin and was beginning to climb up a fence.

Arcata Fire threw a whole lot of resources at this thing, possibly because word came that the fire was threatening power lines and a detached shed. Additional engines from Blue Lake and Humboldt Bay Fire were sent to provide coverage while Arcata attacked.

They got it out pretty quickly. Arcata Fire District Chief Justin McDonald tells the Outpost’s Sierra Jenkins, at the scene, that the fire emerged at the intersection of several backyard fences and it was unclear, at first, where it originated. When they got there, McDonald says, the fire was coming up over the fences.

As soon as they were able to get their hoses connected, McDonald says, they attacked the fire from three angles and quickly knocked it down. After neighbors informed firefighters that no one was at home at one of the houses, they moved in. There was a dog in the yard, but it didn’t look like it was going to bite. 

The back half of the detached shed has been destroyed, McDonald tells the Outpost.

Photo: Sierra Jenkins.

Photo: Andrew Goff.