Woman burned in Loma Rica fire

Pushed by a dry wind, the Scott Fire consumed 18 acres Saturday in Loma Rica and burned a woman as she tried to escape her mobile home.

The woman, described as being in her late 60s or early 70s, was not immediately identified. She was taken by ambulance to Rideout Memorial Hospital with burns to her arms, said Cal Fire's Capt. Mike Carr.

The home in the 12500 block of Scott Grant Road was destroyed, along with four outbuildings and a car. The fire started in that area, though the cause was undetermined, Carr said.

A report on the victim's condition was unavailable.

An unidentified woman reported the fire at 3:20 p.m. Carr said he did not know if it was the injured woman and could not confirm a report that a propane tank exploded.

Tall cypress trees, denuded by the fire except for the top 10 feet or so of branches, stood around the remains of the mobile home as firefighters extinguished the remaining flames.

Blue and yellow cat litter containers were lined up in the front yard. Carr said he didn't know if the fire claimed a cat or any other pets.

The fire traveled northwest and crossed Loma Rica Road but was quickly squelched, Carr said.

Area residents were warned but were not evacuated.

A resident in the 12000 block of Loma Rica Road who declined to give his name watched as firefighters extinguished small blazes on the blackened property next door with water piped into the area from Collins Lake by the Browns Valley Irrigation District.

The man had removed the lower branches of trees on his property and bemoaned his neighbor's failure to do so on the burned property, which he said was the home of deer, quail and wild turkeys.

"It'll come back in a year or so, flush and green," he said.

The fire jumped his driveway and burned the top portion of a pasture. A horse, seemingly unfazed, stood in the lower portion of the pasture and breathed smoky air.

"This is the first year I didn't water the pasture," he said. "Now I've paid for it."

Between constant cell phone calls from concerned neighbors, the man said he'll ask Cal Fire what more he can do to bolster his fire defenses.

Cal Fire committed six engines, a bulldozer and an air tanker. Two hand crews, including orange-clad inmates, helped out, along with departments from Butte County, Lincoln and Wheatland.

CONTACT reporter Rob Young at 749-4784.