By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Fire Crews Respond To Friday Blaze
6-19 ESC Fire1
As a wall of flames greets him, an Oakdale Rural Fire Department firefighter waits for water and gets ready to train the hose on the fire during Friday afternoons three-alarm blaze in Escalon. - photo by IKE DODSON/THE TIMES

A three-alarm fire in the 29000 block of Vine had Escalon firefighters busy for several hours Friday afternoon, calling in mutual aid from Oakdale and Farmington.

Escalon Consolidated Fire Protection District Chief Rick Mello said the first Escalon crews were dispatched at 2:43 p.m. on June 14 to a report of a structure fire on Vine Avenue. Crews arriving found an outbuilding, haystacks and rubbish on fire, with windy conditions adding to the problem.

“It was in the area of Vine and Sutliff,” said Mello, explaining that the outbuilding was a garage/shed-type structure and had heavy damage.

When Escalon first arrived on scene, they called in the back up and units from both Oakdale Rural and Farmington Fire Department responded, as the fire had the potential to quickly get away.

“They were able to extinguish the rubbish fire and outbuilding, then contained the fire to the haystacks, protecting the surrounding buildings,” Mello said.

Serving as incident commander was Battalion Chief Joe Pelot, with Escalon sending four pieces of equipment and a half dozen firefighters to the scene.

“The cause is under investigation,” added Mello.

He said they are checking in to the possibility that the fire was electrical in nature, with a report of some wires possibly arcing prior to the flames being spotted.

The last unit came back from the scene just before 6:30 p.m. Friday, and investigators were back out on site Monday combing through debris looking for clues to help determine exactly how the fire started.

There was no monetary amount of the damage available.