A 200-acre wildfire burning in the Contra Loma Regional Park area of Antioch Wednesday afternoon forced the mandatory evacuations of dozens of homes, as fire crews battled intense heat and 20 mph winds whipping over the drought-parched grassland.At least 100 homes are being evacuated, including houses along Grimsby Drive, fire inspector Steve Aubert said.
An evacuation center has been established at Mira Vista Hills Park in the same neighborhood where the Red Cross is offering assistance. A resident named Alex told KPIX 5, "There's the flames behind us and I'm freaking out, I don't know what to do, and I have to go," as she raced to her car."Me and my whole family out swimming and seen all this. We come back here and we got to evacuate everything in the house. It's kind of scary," nearby homeowner Greg said.
Officers say, "We do have a number of homes that are in a threatened state." Those homes are involved off of Frederickson Drive, Grimsby Drive and we just put out a cautionary evacuation order for all the homes on the south side of Contra Loma Regional Park, which would involve everything from Alvarado Drive and Silver Creek Circle," Contra Costa County Fire Department spokesperson Steve Aubert said. "It's been pretty scary. This fire jumped up, I was about two miles away shopping and I could see the flames on the hill and I came rushing over to my house to see the flames right up in my backyard," one man said. An evacuation center has been established at Mira Vista Hills Park in the same neighborhood where the Red Cross is offering assistance.
Firefighters with the county, Cal Fire and East Bay Regional Parks are all working to put out the fire. Evacuations have been ordered for Contra Loma Regional Park and the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. No injuries have been reported.
