A small grass fire broke out in the hills above Alhambra High School late Thursday morning, and firefighters responded quickly to keep the blaze from spreading.
The fire, which is still being investigated, threatened homes and the high school, but the rapid response from Con Fire kept the blaze from doing any serious damage.
The fire did take out a tool shed and a fence, but no other structures were damaged. The school initiated a brief shelter-in-place warning due to the smoke, and the school was placed on lockdown, but it was lifted after about 30 minutes.
The 2-acre fire creatd a lot of smoke, but burned mostly grass on the hillside, though at one point it got within 50 feet of nearby homes.
"They need to keep that hillside cleared out better," said one resident witnessing the fire. "Every year it seems like it catches fire."
Martinez police were on hand to direct traffic and keep the curious from getting too close.
