Cause of Tahoe blaze under scrutiny

TAHOE CITY, Calif. -- Investigators were sifting through still smoldering rubble on Monday seeking a cause of the weekend blaze that destroyed five homes and forced evacuations on Lake Tahoe's west shore.

One possible source, according to neighbors, was a barbecue propane tank that may have exploded while the owners of the home where it was located were away.

Erik Hurst, who lost his home two doors from where the fire started, said the regulator blew off the propane tank about 1:40 p.m. Saturday and shot flames that quickly spread into the house.

"No one was home at that house," Hurst said. "How did the barbecue catch fire? I don't know how a barbecue lights off by itself."

Hurst, 40, sat on the back of a pickup Sunday morning and watched small plumes of smoke rise from the charred remains of his house. He said the other homes that burned had permanent residents.

"I lost pretty much everything I had," said Hurst, a 17-year resident of Tahoe Park.

The 14-acre fire in the Sunnyside community closed California 89 and was fully contained Saturday night, said Todd Chatonot, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.

Forest Service spokeswoman Cheva Heck said there has been no official determination about the cause and she had heard Hurst's version unofficially.

In eastern Nevada, a 4,200-acre fire seven miles west of Carlin closed Interstate 80 for about four hours Sunday afternoon. The human-caused blaze was 50 percent contained early Monday.