California Man Extinguishes Fire With Bud Light

VACAVILLE, CA — Chad Little was panicking as a fire line began to race toward the home he stayed behind to protect while his family evacuated, Aug. 19. The only water nearby was in two nearby dog bowls. So, he grabbed the next best thing — a lot of Bud Light cans.

Little successfully saved his shop and defended his home from the surrounding massive LNU Lightning Complex fire in the dead of night with just a 30 pack of light beer.

The complex is the second largest fire in California history and has destroyed nearly 1,000 structures.

"I was panicking trying to find water and I thought 'what do I have a lot of?'" Little said. "It dawned on me that I had two cases of Bud Light."

Little's family home burned down almost exactly five years ago come Sept. 1, in an attic fire on the same property.

"I wasn't gonna let it burn down and go through that again," Little said.

His two kids were begging their father to evacuate with them as they loaded up their truck earlier with their belongings.

"I thought he was going to die," said his daughter, Shelby Little, a recent graduate of Vacaville High School. "We though we were going to have to say our goodbyes to him on the phone."

But Little made a promise to his wife and children — he would return safely no matter what.

"I was watching the fire coming from the west to the east and then it came to my neighbor's house," Little said.

Little thought he was prepared for another fire, as he says it's the fourth fire that's come close to the home. He had fire hoses and fire hydrants primed and at the ready, but he didn't expect the electricity to be cut, shutting down the water pumps.

The same was true for his neighbors. So, all he had were rakes and shovels to suppress embers and flames that threatened to scorch the two properties.

After an exhausting several hours of battling fires at a neighboring property, Little had to make sure the surrounding flames didn't jump the creek that separated the two properties. Eventually, they did.

"I just kept putting out the fire in a line as it was coming toward my home," Little said.

By then, his vehicles had gone up in flames, catching his shop nearby on fire. As Little advanced on the flames, he realized he was fighting a losing battle.

"That's when I realized I was in trouble because it was on both sides of me," Little said. "I was getting dizzy and inhaling smoke, but I just kept telling myself 'keep going, these fires are not going to stop.'"

So, he grabbed one of the two cases of Bud Light he had and began deploying splatters of beer into the flames. At first, he had little success in directing the stream. Then, he quickly thought to run inside and pull the sheet metal off, mostly to hit the flames from another side.

"There was a nail sticking up perfectly, so I just started popping small holes in the cans," Little said.

Grabbing can after can and pricking them just right, he was able to get a stronger flow and eventually extinguished the fire.

"I didn't think it would work, but I had to try something," Little said.

By then the sun had come up and Little could barely keep his eyes open. Hours later, he awoke to find his detached garaged burnt to the ground and more flames surrounding his home. Luckily, a fire rig pulled up after spotting Little and helped him fight the fire.

"They said 'wait did you put this out with Bud Light?" Little said, recounting the conversation with firefighters. "'They said 'we've gotta get a picture of this to hang on our station wall.'"

Since then, Little has barely left the house, still determined to save his family from losing their home again. He and his neighbor have been going out each night to put out any little ember or fire they spot.

According to Little, employees who work for Budweiser in Fairfield have offered to deliver cases of Bud Light to the residence. Luckily, it's his drink of choice.