Home burns near Sutter

Eva Woodard could only watch in disbelief as the house she once called home burned down to its foundation Thursday night.

“It’s unbelievable ... There is nothing left of the house. It’s burned to the ground,” Woodard said.

The large, two-story home located on Pass Road near Kellogg Road north of Sutter is actually the home of her former husband, Gary Woodard. They had bought the home in 2001.

Firefighters from five agencies battled a blaze that engulfed the house.

“The fire had already vented itself through a front window, and a quick walk around (the house) showed it was burning through the back of the house. So about half the first floor of the house was involved at arrival,” said Sutter County Fire Chief Dan Yager.

Gary Woodard was visiting Eva Woodard when one of his neighbors called her house.

“The neighbor down the street ... called me and told me the house was on fire,” said Eva Woodard, who immediately began to check her home, which is about two miles away. “I thought they were talking about my home .... but he said, ‘no, I mean the house out here.’”

In their haste to get to the scene, the Woodards were pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy, who then became their escort. But there was little anyone could do by then.

The first call to dispatchers came at 8:47. Yager, who lives about a mile away, said he was there within a minute or two.

“The big key to fighting fires in our rural areas is to call out your neighboring (departments),” Yager said.

Units from three Sutter County departments, as well as from Meridian and Sacramento River from Colusa County also joined the fight.

Yager said like most rural fires, the first challenge is just getting enough water to the scene.

“It was just a matter of getting engines out here and getting the water flowing,” Yager said. “Water supply is always an issue.”

The battle became more even when all the engines were on scene.

“It’s a large two-story residence, so we are flowing a lot of water,” said Yager, estimating as much as 1,500 to 2,000 gallons per minute were being used.

Yager, who has been with Sutter County for 21 years and has been chief for a little more than a year, expected firefighters to be mopping up at the scene into the early morning hours.