House Fire, School Cleaning and Gas Prices

: A 17-year-old Clayton boy escaped a house fire by jumping out of a window of his single-story home Wednesday afternoon, firefighters said.

The fire in the 5500 block of Southbrook Drive caused extensive damage to the home, according to a Contra Costa County Fire Department official.

Two dogs died in the blaze.

"The thing to focus on is everybody is OK," Contra Costa Fire Battalion Chief William Walker said. "If it happened at 2 a.m. there could have been a fatality."

but the cause has yet to be determined.

: Clayton Valley High students teamed up with the Parent Faculty Group to straighted up high school on Saturday, March 26.

It marked the third time this year students and parents have come together to clean up the school, and one more event is planned before the end of the year. The goal of the project is to make the school more aesthetically pleasing, in the hope that a cleaner school means a better school.

"The school is old and it looks like it," McCabe Walls said. "We want the kids to have pride in their school but it's hard for students to have pride if they don't have an environment to support it."

: Gas prices in Clayton have risen over $4 and there's little reason to believe price will come down significantly soon and are having and effect on residents.

Like so many Claytonians, Leigh Kirmsse has a commute — she works in Oakland. Gas prices are hurting her financially, but she said she doesn't regret living in Clayton.

"You do have to drive farther," Kirmsse said. "But what I like about Clayton is that's it's secluded. I wouldn't trade that for anything."

: On Tuesday, people headed to work and school were delayed by planned road work on Clayton Road.

A westbound lane of Clayton Road was closed and the power to the traffic lights at the intersection of Clayton Road and Mitchell Canyon Road was cut.

PG&E construction foreman Doug Snyder explained, “We are installing an underground switch. This will allow us to control power from the main office instead of having to come out here to do it manually.”