MARTINEZ — A teenager hitting a flaming tennis ball ignited a two-alarm fire Wednesday afternoon that displaced three residents, heavily damaged at least one house and several vehicles and briefly caused a disruption in electrical service to about 8,700 customers, authorities said.
After a fire district social-media post Wednesday evening said investigators found the blaze began in an Arthur Road home’s backyard, district officials provided more details in a separate statement Thursday.
“The three teens had a fire they had dug in a pit in the backyard and ignited a tennis ball and played stickball with it. One of them hit the burning tennis ball into some dry vegetation resulting in the grass fire,” the statement read in part, before explaining that explosive noises heard during the fire came from vehicles and propane tanks catching fire, and that no fireworks were involved.
The youths were released to their parents’ custody due to the fire’s accidental nature and their lack of criminal records, but fire investigators will forward a case to the county’s juvenile district attorney and a youth fire-setter program.