Twenty-five homes in the Somerset area of El Dorado County were threatened this afternoon by a fire that burned 15 acres of heavy brush.
The Sand fire started at 11:35 a.m. on Sand Ridge Road near Bucks Bar Road southeast of Placerville. As of this evening, the fire's progress had been stopped and it was 50 percent contained, according to a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection news release.
No injuries or structural damage has been reported.
"Some of the homeowners had done an excellent job creating defensible space around their homes and it clearly made the difference between them returning to their home or a pile of ashes, since the fire literally burned right up to their homes," Robert Little, a spokesman for Cal Fire's Amador-El Dorado Unit, said in a written statement.
Officials said the fire spotted across Mount Aukum/E-16 Road. The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department oversaw voluntary evacuations of the Meyers and Moody roads area until the spot fires were contained.
Mount Aukum/E-16 was closed to traffic for a few hours. One lane then was opened with the California Highway Patrol escorting vehicles between Grizzly Flat and Paradise Ranch roads.
Cal Fire was assisted by the El Dorado County, Diamond Springs, El Dorado Hills, Georgetown, Rescue and Pioneer fire departments, and the U.S.Forest Service.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Information on creating defensible space around a home is available on the website at www.ReadyForWildfire.org.
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