Smoke bomb ignites fast moving fire in Fresno County

FRESNO COUNTY (KFSN) -- A smoke bomb used to eliminate squirrels caused a grass fire that spread quickly Wednesday evening in Fresno County. It ignited around 5:30 p.m. near Herndon and Highland.

The fire damaged several cars parked in the field and firefighters managed to stop its forward progress and protecting 12 homes in the area. Cal fire said the flames spread quickly because of the weather conditions and where the fire started.

"So the wind in here, it's a wide open field-- about a 20 acre field and the houses all around it and amongst it. It spread very very quickly, it went from about one and a half acre to three to four acres within about 30 seconds. That was due to the fact that the wind was picking the fire up, the embers, taking the embers and throwing them up over the fire engines and into the other fields adjacent," said Mike Bowman, Fresno County Fire.

Fire investigators urge people to create a defensible space around their homes especially in these dry windy conditions.