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Mar 24, 2023

Investigators determined Bennett Valley home fire linked to escaped ember from wood stove

The fire that caused about $75,000 in damage to a Bennett Valley home and

The fire that caused about $75,000 in damage to a Bennett Valley home and displaced two residents last week most likely started with an escaped ember from a wood stove, fire officials said.

The Sonoma County Fire District responded to a call from the residents about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday reporting flames coming from the fireplace in their residence at the 4300 block of Sonoma Mountain Road.

Firefighters at the scene found light smoke around the chimney of the two-story, single-family home. Flames had spread into the attic.

A fire investigator later determined the fire most likely began when an ember from a fire set in the wood stove insert escaped through the spark arrester, which had holes larger than a quarter of an inch in the mesh.

The cinder then buried into the exterior wood shake siding, starting a fire that burned into the attic, according to a news release from the Sonoma County Fire District.

The fire was ruled to be accidental in nature.

Crews had the fire under control in about 15 minutes and remained at the scene for over an hour and a half extinguishing hot spots and cleaning up.

There were no injuries reported.

In the release, fire officials encouraged residents to have their chimneys, including the spark arresters, professionally cleaned and inspected every year. They also said to consider upgrading siding to more fire-resistant material to discourage and potentially prevent fires.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at [email protected]. On Twitter @madi.smals.