rosenberg rodriguez says he had been using a lawn mower in the area, and believes he knows how >> reporter: rodriguez says on the next pass, he noticed something was wrong. >> soon as i turned it on and then do another line the section off, and when i come back with the second line. that's when i see the fire started. my buddy just showed up to, you know, give me a hand. and we trying to stop the fire. but that thing was so -- we couldn't do it. >> reporter: local crews and cal fire responded keeping the flames away from buildings. firefighters reminding people to tonight to be extra cautious when working around the home during these red-flag conditions. the fear of a severe-fire season has prompted some to take steps, now, to protect their homes in the future. >> i got rid of all the weeds and brush away from my home. >> reporter: because of the red-flag warning, contra costa county fire has increased staffing through monday morning, has a crew at the ready, and even brought in an extra dispatcher. a preemptive move to respond to any small fires to quickly prevent them from becoming a muc

just down the road rosenberg rodriguez said he thinks he knows how it started. he said on the next pass he noticed something was wrong. >> as soon as i turned it on and do another line and when i come back with the second line, that's when i see the fire started. my body just came up to give me a hand. we tried to stop the fire. we couldn't do it. >> reporter: rodriguez called 911. they say a cause hasn't been determined yet. >> still doing their investigation but the fire started, initially about 20, 25 acres, then the north wind and dry conditions, we caught it right around 45 acres. thanks to the assist of helicopters and the tappingers dropping. >> reporter: local crews and cal fire responded and were able to keep the fire away from structures. they were concerned about wind and how quickly it might spread. >> this is pretty busy for the early half of may so we did up staff, put on a special staffing pattern to increase the ability to respond to incidents >> reporter: late this afternoon crews wer spending time mopping up. they did say that the fire moved to

. >> reporter: rosenberg rodriguez believes he accidentally started the fire while cutting tallgrass on his riding lawnmower. >> that thing sparked, and that that's how it started . >> reporter: firefighters say one spark is all it takes to set off red firefly conditions. >> it's keeping me up at night. hopefully the homeowners are doing their due diligence. >> reporter: anthony has seen fires near his home before , and he's ready for another long summer. >> one month ago, it was all green. now, it's all golden state . the fires a real bad. >> reporter: a grass fire this large so early in the season has firefighters very concerned here and it is hot. it is dry. it feels like june or july, but of course, it is only may. this by what we heard from that homeowner, cal fire says it is still investigating the cause of the fire, but they do so using a lawnmower should be avoided during a red flag alert. we are live in abc7 tonight. cornell barnard, abc7 news. >>> there is a red flag warning in effect right now for parts of the east and north bay. meteorologist drew tuma on the roof overloo

down the road rosenberg rodriguez said he had been using a riding lawnmower. >> the blade is metal and the spark. >> reporter: he says on the next pass he noticed something was wrong. >> as soon as i turn it on and then do another line, the section, when i come back with the second line, i see the fire start and my buddy just showed up to, you know, give me a hand. we trying to stop the fire, but that thing was, the wind, we couldn't do it. >> reporter: rodriguez called 911. firefighters advised postponing that type of work in these conditions. today they say the cause has not been determined yet. >> still doing the investigation. a fire started about 20, 25 acres. the north wind and dry conditions we are experiencing, we caught it around 45 acres thanks to the assist of the helicopters and the tankers. >> reporter: local crews and cal fire responded and were able to keep the fire away from structures. they were concerned about wind and how quickly it might spread. >> this is busy or the early half of may. we did upstaff, put on a special staffing pattern to increase our ability to res

. >> rosenberg rodriguez believes he accidentally started the fire while cutting call grass on his riding lawnmower. >> i hit a rock with the lawnmower. and that sparked it. and that's how it started. >> firefighters say one spark is all it takes during red flag fire conditions. >> it's keeping me up at night. hopefully homeowners are doing their due diligence. >> he's seen fires near their home before. and he's ready for another long summer. >> one month ago it was green and now it's all golden state, dry, but the fires are real bad. >> tear bad. a grass fire this large so early in the season really has firefighters concerned, it's hot and dry. it feels like june or july but it's only may. despite what we heard from that homeowner today cal fire is still investigating the cause of this blaze. live in solano county, abc 7 news. >>> there's a red flag warning in effect right now for parts of the east and north bay. meteorologist drew tuma joining us on the roof over looking the bay and gives us a look at the conditions. it feels like it's the middle of summer. we're in fire season all read

. >> reporter: rosenberg rodriguez believes he accidentally started the fire while cutting tallgrass on his riding lawnmower. >> that thing sparked and that is how this started. >> reporter: firefighters say one spark is all it takes. >> hopefully, the homeowners are doing their due diligence. >> reporter: anthony has seen a fire before and he is ready for a long summer. a grass fire this large so early really has firefighters concerned. it is hot, dry and it feels like june or july. despite what we heard from that home owner, cal fire is still investigating the cause of the fire but say using a lawnmower should be aborted during a red flag alert. >>> in the north bay, this early start to fire season has many people on edge. abc seven news reporter spoke to a santa rosa family who survived the fire in 2017. this season, they are hoping their home will be spared. >> reporter: in the home, the family's members and years of sacrifice all gone. >> that is my husband and he is looking for souvenirs that may have been spared but nothing was found. >> reporter: in october 2017, her parents

. >> reporter: rosenberg rodriguez believes he accidentally started the fire while cutting tall grass on his riding lawn mower. >> i get with the lawn mower, that thing spark and that is how it started. >> reporter: firefighters say one spark is all it takes during red flag warning fire conditions. >> it is keeping me up at night, to be honest with you. hopefully home owners are doing their due diligence. >> reporter: anthony has seen fires near his home before, and he is ready for another long summer. >> like one month ago, all green, now all golden state, dry, but the fires are real bad. >> reporter: a grass fire this large so early in the season has firefighters concerned. it is hot, it is dry, it feels like june or july, but of course it sewnly may. despite what we heard from the home owner, cal' fire says it is still investigating the cause of the fire, but they do say using lawn mower should be avoided during a red flag warning alert. abc7 news. >>> in the north bay this early start to fire season has many residents on edge there. they have been through fires before, but not thi