A weekend fire that destroyed two outbuildings in Rough and Ready remains under investigation. Fire Chief Bob Vaughn says he happened to be driving on Highway 20, after dropping off a member of his department at the Auburn fire, that was also going on at the time, when he saw a large column of smoke near Mushroom Trail off Rex Reservoir Road. He says fortunately Cal Fire was able to divert a couple of helicopters from the Auburn fire, to help his short-handed department…

click to listen to Chief Vaughn

One of the outbuildings held furniture and machinery, among other items. The other, smaller, building was used for farm work. A home on the property, about 100 yards away, was not affected. Vaughn says there may be some preliminary indication of what caused the blaze…

click to listen to Chief Vaughn

Vaughn says the property owner estimates the loss from the fire at over 300-thousand dollars. The Penn Valley, Grass Valley, and Nevada County Consolidated fire departments also assisted.