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Firefighters Fully Contain American Fire -- 526 Acres Burned

AMERICAN CANYON (CBS SF) -- Taking advantage of cooling temperatures and calming winds, firefighters gained a firm foothold overnight on a Napa County wildfire that charred 526 acres.

The so-called American Fire began at around 3 p.m. Sunday, destroying an outbuilding. More than 170 firefighters stopped the forward progress of the fire late Sunday evening.

The fire was fully contained Monday evening, Cal Fire announced at 6:36 p.m.

 

Embers flew into the back of Jaimon Matthew's property in the Cantada Court neighborhood, but he quickly put a plan in place. Jaimon grabbed the garden hose and the rest of the family took what they could and left.

"I saw the fire on the fence there and I saw the neighbor there and said, 'You don't leave, let the family go and let's hose it down,'" he said.

It was a plan they had drawn up after the last big fire. They know how quickly a blaze can spread.

"It just came up here so fast," said Jaimon's wife, Betty. "I mean, I came here from work and I saw it was by the high school and thought, it's not going to come here. But in no time, we saw when we went to the bedroom it was right behind our house."

The Jaimon family was among those who left their homes after Napa County officials issued an evacuation advisory. They got home around 8 p.m. Sunday after the advisory was lifted.

Jaimon Matthew said he was relieved his home was spared and grateful for the effort of firefighters. He would also like to talk with American Canyon city officials about making the backyard fenceline more accessible, since he had to jump over the tall fence, risking injury. He would also like to see an adjustment on the fire break.

"The fire break is there, but not close to our fence," Matthew said. "They built the place 10 feet away, but don't do anything [immediately] behind the fence."

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