Napa City Firefighters Put Out Blaze at Tree Service

PHOTOS BY ROBERT PEEBLES JR.

Napa City firefighters quickly extinguished a blaze that started just after 10 a.m. today in a dryer at Mike's Tree Service, 2057 Iroquois St., Napa.

Napa Fire Capt. Jim Pope, whose crew was at the scene four minutes after the 10:26 a.m. call, said firefighters had the blaze "knocked down in less than 10 minutes," he said.

Pope estimated total damages at $10,000 -- including $5,000 to the structure and $5,000 in contents.

"The good news is we were able to save what is probably a $250,000 property and an estimated $80,000 in contents," Pope said.

Pope attributed the success at saving most of the structure and contents to "an early call by a neighboring business, the firefighters' quick response and the fact that it was during the daytime and not at night," he said.

"All those things helped, and made for a good outcome," he said.

Pope said the blaze is thought to have started in a dryer in the rear corner of the business. Some lint that was caught in the dryer's lint trap is thought to have caught a spark and caused the fire, he said.

"It's a good lesson for people to know that they should keep their dryers clean and free of lint," Pope said.

Napa Fire Battalion Chief Steve Brassfield said no one was in the building at the time.

Cal Fire firefighters covered for Napa City Fire during the incident, Brassfield said.