I still go back to my hometown, my family is still there and The Saint That I Am Married To has business interests there. When in town, I still photograph my agency (it will always be my agency) in action. We were there a few weeks ago and I happened to catch this one on the day before we returned home to Arizona.
The structure sits on a two-lane divided road that runs through the orange groves. It was occupied at the time, though I am guessing they didn't realize it was burning as they were in the house and the fire appeared to have started in the garage. One of the earliest reports of the fire was made by a P.D. unit who was down the street and saw smoke from a few blocks away. I suspect the fire had a good head start before being reported as the house sits back from the street and is mostly obscured by orange trees.
The fuel tank in the car in the above photo had failed a few minutes prior to my arrival, causing some excitement to the residents, the assisting police officers and the first in crew.
Several hand lines were pulled, due to the volume of fire and the need to confine the fire to the area of origin. Additional resources were requested do to the fire loading of the garage and the extensive overhaul that would be required.
At some point, it became apparent that the fire had extended into the attic, despite an interior crew pulling ceilings and putting an interior hand line in service.
Concurrently, the truck company had arrived and was getting to work on the roof. They provided the necessary openings reducing smoke damage in the dwelling area of he structure.
The results were photographically impressive.
View from the charlie side (rear). This was a very nice house and garage, there was obvious pride of ownership in it's upkeep.
There was a ton of overhaul to do, crews were there for several hours completing the task. I haven't heard if they determined a cause yet, they were working on it when I left. I, and my dogs, were hungry so I took off.
This, as most destructive fires, was kind of sad to me. I know these people had worked long and hard on this property. As it was kind of near to my home, I saw how much work they put into it. I can only hope that they recover.
Thanks for reading,
Schmoe
