Neighbors battle blaze sparked by transformer

The neighbors of Ponderosa Cascade community had a scare Saturday when a transformer blew just after 6 p.m. and sent flames flying into the yard of Earl and Bonnie Long at 16913 Ponderosa Cascade. A steady wind was blowing the flames as high as two stories and toward a neighboring yard when Cloverdale volunteer firefighters arrived.

"The neighbors were the ones that kept the fire at bay until the firefighters got here," Bonnie Long said of residents who pulled hoses from their yards in an attempt to stop the fire.

"When the television went off, I said, 'Uh oh, there's been an accident,'" Long said. She walked to the other end of her house and looked out the front window to a view of smoke. Power was out for about five hours for some homes in the neighborhood.

Kristine Simon said she was outside and heard the transformer explode.

"I heard two large pops and ran to the street," she said while watching the Cloverdale firefighters hose down the Longs' yard. Simon said she saw sparks pop out of the box and fly into the air, followed by flames. Two or three neighbors called 911, she said.