A thick and ominous column of smoke amassed off Bechelli Lane Wednesday afternoon, but the fire that produced it was not as large as it may have seemed to observers. Redding Fire Department was dispatched at 5:30PM to 3344 Bechelli Lane. They found an apparently unoccupied house fully engulfed in fire at the back of a large vacant lot across the street from the Bike Shop. The house was surrounded by a large stand of thick mature Oak Trees, which were also burning. Firefighters worked quickly and contained the fire to three-quarters of an acre. The house was completely destroyed. Nine fire engines and 29 Redding Firefighters worked the scene. The cause is still under investigation, although multiple witnesses reported that a man who had been lingering in that area for most of the day left as the fire started, and he was carrying a gas can.
-Steve Gibson