Car crash ignites fire in Atascadero, residents urge others to prepare for fire season

ATASCADERO, Calif. - A car crashed in an Atascadero neighborhood, causing a 10 acre vegetation fire Tuesday.

Suzie VanBenthuysen was home when she started to smell smoke and her TV started glitching. A fireman came into her home and took her outside.

"He came in the house and said now, you've got to get out now," VanBenthuysen said. "And I said but what about my cat?"

Her home sustained smoke damage internally, and some damage to the back of the home. She and her family have a hotel voucher from the Red Cross for a few nights. Her cat was rescued by a family member.

Eric Goetsch, a school teacher, lives across the street from VanBenthuysen. "I just started to get dinner ready and I came around the corner and saw the car already in the ditch," he said.

Goetsch talked with those in the car wreck, who he said appeared to be uninjured, and urged them to call the police.

"A little smoke started. A couple minutes later the fire went up," Goetsch said.

"Upon arrival, our first units identified the vehicle which had caught fire in the vegetation and quickly spread," said Corporal Rochelle Hanson. They had to request additional fire personnel and air support to help extinguish the fire.

One of the things firefighters recommend is having 100 feet of defensible space. That defensible space saved the home of VanBenthuysen.

"I'm glad that we had our weeds already cut down," she said. "If anybody doesn't have theirs cut, they should because I would have never thought there'd be a fire here today."

Atascadero Fire Chief Casey Bryson says fires catch easily this time of year, and can start because of humans, cars, or by natural causes.

"If you don't receive an evacuation notice or order, but you see smoke and smell smoke, it's probably time to go," he said.

Bryson said it's best to prepare your home for a fire before the fire season starts.

Another fire started around Cayucos Tuesday, but was stopped after burning two acres.