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• Tapping a resource

• Courtroom project will mean $200,000 a year for City of Lodi

• Homeless woman's quick action prevents fire from spreading

• Planning project for San Joaquin Valley comes to Lodi

• Woodbridge Irrigation District to fill Lodi Lake — partially

November 2nd, 2009

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

November 7th, 2009

• Lodi High graduate was at Fort Hood

• Lining up for flu shots in Lodi

• Tour packs buses as birdwatchers admire Sandhill cranes

• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks

• Daytime thieves targeting Lodi homes

• Lodi High School rally featured on 'Good Day Sacramento'

• Out of control

• Homicide suspect Anthony Hubbard arraigned

• Regional Roundup

• New Lodi Memorial rule to combat spread of H1N1: Visitors must be older than 16

November 6th, 2009

• Short sales make up nearly half of Lodi market

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi man accused of smuggling drugs, weapons for inmates at state prison

• 'I-5 Strangler' sentenced to 6 terms of life

• Jury convicts Acampo man of torture, assault of his girlfriend

• Young girl is 200,000th person to assemble AIDS, HIV care kit

• Woman in wheelchair struck by car

November 5th, 2009

• A lower Lodi Lake

• Streetside scarecrows

• San Joaquin County considers moratorium on new Williamson Act contracts

• Speakers address Lodi Unified School District budget shortfalls, plea to keep programs

• Armed robbers still targeting Lodi shops

• Regional Roundup

• California voters have final say over $11 billion water bond

• Weekend bus service to continue until Lodi City Council makes decision

• Paul Tebbel shines spotlight on sandhill cranes

• Your complete guide to Sandhill Crane Festival

• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy

• Man wanted in Acampo homicide gives up to San Joaquin County Sheriff's detectives

November 4th, 2009

• Candle fire

• Rep. Jerry McNerney sets telephone town hall for Thursday

• Regional Roundup

• Lodi City Council weighs raising fares to restore some bus service

• Galt City Council argues over ordinance hiring residents

• San Joaquin County sues state over prison hospital planned for Stockton

• Big win for Allen Baroni in reclamation election

• California sends Democratic loyalist John Garamendi to Congress

• Bicycling father raising awareness of teen suicide

• Jason Behrmann is unanimously named Galt's city manager

November 3rd, 2009

• 500 attend service for Kyle Coumas

• Correction

• Galt considers ordinance that would require city contractors to hire locally

• Regional Roundup

• Have you seen a missing guide dog puppy in Lodi?

• Galt man dies after weekend Highway 12 crash

• Jason Behrmann is top candidate for Galt city manager

• Deputies name suspect in fatal Acampo shooting

• Clarification

November 2nd, 2009

• Downtown Lodi trick or treat

• Public Meetings

• Correction

• Kyle Coumas funeral today

• Regional Roundup

• Sandhill Cranes Festival comes to Lodi next weekend

• Lamborghini lovers gather for show, fine wine, luncheon in Woodbridge

• Lodi's 'Biggest Loser' Christy Richesin runs 5K Halloween race

• 27-year-old man shot to death Saturday night in front of Acampo home

• Group investigates reports of haunting

October 31st, 2009

• Area schools have no plans of closing due to H1N1 virus

• Tokay High evacuation

• Gated communities in Lodi

• Finishing touches on Hill House replica

• Regional Roundup

• In remembrance of Kyle Coumas

• Lodi-area Halloween events

• City of Lodi settles case of mistaken identity

• Lodi a reflection of Halloween's retail emergence

• Izzy Laviola and Seth Siddle-Mitchell crowned Tokay homecoming queen and king

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Bible is entwined with American civic life (135)
• David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (69)
• I predict: A conservative tide will rise in 2010 (68)
• The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (58)
• Universal health care solves big problems (54)
• Here's what my father knew about the assassination of JFK (35)
• Words from our forefathers (27)
• Stuck in neutral? Hardly! (22)
• City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks (19)
• Majority cannot deprive the minority (19)

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Homeless woman's quick action prevents fire from spreading

A homeless woman likely prevented a vehicle fire from spreading to a nearby building Tuesday by grabbing a garden hose and spraying the structure until firefighters arrived.

The fire started in a big rig off an alley near Hilborn and Washington streets Tuesday afternoon and was threatening to spread to a nearby garage, said Battalion Chief Ron Penix.

Laurie Williams, 48, happened to be collecting cans to recycle when she turned down the alley and saw flames coming from the diesel truck. She asked an onlooker to call 911 but the woman didn't speak English, Williams said. A second woman also didn't understand, but Williams found a third person who called for help.

Lodi fire crews put out a deisel truck that caught on fire Tuesday afternoon in an alley off of South Garfield. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

In the meantime, Williams grabbed a nearby garden hose. The blaze was too strong to be fought with the hose, but Williams was worried about a nearby garage and a shed.

"Everybody thought I was trying to put the fire out, but I was just trying to keep it from spreading," she said.

Firefighters got close to the area, saw the smoke and asked for more crews. The fire had just reached a garage and was threatening a shed when firefighters soon put it out.

"It's a good thing (Williams) was walking by," Penix said. "She couldn't get the fire out but she was able to keep the neighbor's garage from burning."

The cause of the fire remained under investigation, Penix said.

First published: Wednesday, March 14, 2007