2 trailers destroyed, goats killed after fire breaks out in Madera County

MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Crews worked to get control of a fire that destroyed two trailers and killed several goats on Friday afternoon.

The call came in around 1:30 pm. The fire broke out in the area of Sycamore Street and Avenue 22 1/2 in Fairmead.

CAL FIRE/Madera County Fire says the flames destroyed two travel trailers, three cars and two animal pens.

Five goats were killed in the fire and two others were badly injured.

Firefighter say windy and dry conditions affected firefighting efforts.

"Now that we're coming up into the summer time with the hotter and drier conditions and that grass has turned drier," said Battalion Chief Andrew Overbay.

"Along with the winds, we were getting 10 to 15 mph winds."

Brenadina Campos saw the flames moving toward her home. She said she could hear loud bangs and explosions as she watched flames move towards her home.

"I was scared my house was going to burn but we kept spraying water," said Campos.

"We had a lot of water. I have a lot here and he had water over there. I used buckets and a shovel to plant dirt and the fire shortened.'

Campos tells Action News her concern turned to helping her neighbor.

"I told the man his goats are going to burn," said Campos. "He opened the door so they could escape."

Cellphone shared with ABC 30 also showed thick plumes of smoke from the fire.

The Madera County Sheriff's Office also issued evacuation orders for people living around the area.

"There were approximately three residential structures that were immediately threatened by this fire," said Chief Overbay. "Luckily they did have some clearance"

Fairmead Elementary School is also less than a mile away.

At the time of the fire, the Sheriff's Office said the school was not threatened. The Chowchilla Elementary School District says, it was notified of the fire and deputies stopped by the school to check in.

The district says, while students were not evacuated they stayed indoors for safety.

One firefighter received a minor injury but was treated on scene and released.

The fire has been contained at 11 acres.

Officials are still working to figure out what caused the fire, but they have a reminder for people.

"Really keeping your own property mowed down, tilled down with those disk lines," said Chief Overbay. "You can save a lot of your own property by doing so."

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