Major fires the last Sunday of October pushed the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District to its limits and caused the evacuation of thousands of residents in Lafayette, all part of possibly the busiest day in the fire district's history.
"We faced an historic and massive challenge Oct. 27, the likes of which we have not encountered before and one that could have turned out much differently in loss of property and even life," ConFire Chief Lewis Broschard said.
ConFire responded to 28 incidents in Lafayette that day, with the major event the 6-acre grass fire that destroyed the Lafayette Tennis Club along the south side of Camino Diablo. "You could tell by the voices on the dispatch that this was big," Capt. Jeff Landis said. "When I arrived on the scene I thought, `This looks like a video I saw of the Oakland Hills fire.'"
Wind gusts up to 34 mph impeded the firefighting efforts, as did a large PG&E power pole lying across Camino Diablo.