Grass fire near Kingsburg threatens homes

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Firefighters worked to protect homes in Tulare County after a grass fire erupted along a riverbank and spread to at least 15 acres on Sunday night.

Roughly six to eight homes near Kingsburg were under fire protection, according to firefighters. The flames broke out near the Kings River Golf and Country Club around 8 p.m. A pole barn was the only structure destroyed on Sunday night.

"We're getting there. It's going to be a long night, but we're getting there," said Tulare County Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Newton.

Newton said they planned to work around the clock to keep the smoldering flames from sparking an even bigger fire. Along the riverbank near the Kingsburg Golf Course are homes everywhere, which made it challenging for first responders.

"Access was the difficult part. We're cutting fences, working our way in. We're finally getting there, but access is tough," said Newton.

Neighbors and homeowners said the fire was so out of control, they took efforts into their own hands.

"We got a lot of the hoses out, we had about four just garden hoses running until the fire department got here," said Dirk Schuil. "(The) fire department got here and they had their hoses, so some of us grabbed some of those too and just tried to put out whatever we could."

Newton said unless the wind picked up and moved the fire in a different direction, people there were safe.

"I think they're safer now than they were two hours ago. They can stay in their homes, we're not talking evacuations at this point unless something drastically changes," said Newton.