Oceanside CA– Oceanside firefighters made quick work of a brush fire between Interstate 5 and the Goat Hill Golf Course just north of Oceanside Blvd, Monday afternoon, September 8, 2014. The fire department also received some help from personnel at the golf course.
Rick Kratcoski, a volunteer at the golf course was getting ready to water some flowers when he noticed some smoke coming from near the 16th hole on the west side of the course. “I saw this little poof of black smoke and thought, hey I think that fire is here.” said Kratcoski. He grabbed a garden hose plus an irrigation quick coupler and told Tyler Dingvell in the club house to call 9-1-1.
Tyler along with Kris Ramos and David Emerick helped Rick keep the fire away from the course itself.
“Those guys stopped this fire from spreading any further on to the golf course.” said David Emerick a Golf Pro at Goat Hill, “If the fire had got into the Eucalyptus trees or up towards the Senior area, who knows what would have happened.”
A second alarm was called for the vegetation fire around 3:20p.m. due to water resource concerns but was cancelled after Oceanside firefighters and engineers set up a pumper-tanker water relay along Interstate 5. One of the trucks used the garden hose brought to the scene by Kratcoski to replenish the water tank.
The fire was contained to just over an acre in the brush between the golf course and the freeway. No word of the cause at this time.