OCEANSIDE
A lightning strike sparked a vegetation fire Thursday in Oceanside that scorched the backyard fences of several homes before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze, authorities said.
An Oceanside firefighter battles a blaze Thursday afternoon that scorched trees and backyard fences, but no homes. Battalion Chief Jessamyn Specht said the firefighter is dressed in “full structure turnouts” instead of brush fire gear because the call came in as a structure fire, and crews “do not waste time changing . They simply go to work to protect the homes.”
(Courtesy of Oceanside Fire Department)
An engine crew that responded to an unrelated call was heading back to their station about 4:25 p.m. when they saw the lightning strike in the distance, followed just a few seconds later by flames and smoke billowing into the sky, Oceanside fire Battalion Chief Jessamyn Specht said in a news release.