Alert Neighbors Report Fire At Converted Water Tower Near Cotati

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Neighbors of a water tower-turned-auxiliary residence in
unincorporated Sonoma County between Penngrove and Cotati saw arcing and eventually flames on the old wooden facade of the structure, and called firefighters who limited the damage, a Rancho Adobe Fire Department battalion chief said Sunday.

Firefighters responded about 5:30 a.m. Sunday to the converted water tower in the 9500 block of Willow Avenue, about a mile northwest of "downtown" Penngrove, said Rancho Adobe Battalion Chief Herb Wandel.

Though it was thought at first that lightning may have caused the fire — several lightning strikes occurred during a period of very heavy rains, Wandel said — it later was believed water from the heavy rains infiltrated the electrical panel on the outside of the old water tower.

No one was inside the converted tower when the fire broke out, and only some of the outside wooden paneling was damaged. An adjoining house suffered no damage, Wandel said.

The battalion chief credited neighbors for being observant and calling the fire department.

"If they hadn't called, we probably would have had something quite a bit worse," Wandel said.

— Bay City News Service