A man and his 8-year-old twin sons escaped uninjured from a fire Tuesday that destroyed their rural Paso Robles home.
Around 3:56 p.m., a fire was reported at 430 Robles Road, in the hills above South Vine Street. When the first firefighters arrived eight minutes later, the house's garage had already burned down, said Battalion Chief Rick Giubbini of CDF/County Fire.
The blaze also charred about 1 acre of dry brush adjacent to the home.
Watching the remains of his house smoke, Joe Guglielmo sighed and thought about the photos, quilts and jewelry he lost in the blaze.
"There goes my world," Guglielmo said. "I don't have a clue what I'm going to do."
Firefighters had yet determined a cause of the fire Tuesday, Giubbini said, but do not consider it suspicious. Guglielmo said he thinks it started in the garage.
With his wife on a trip to England, Guglielmo said he was on vacation from work for a week. When he looked out his window and saw smoke, he immediately grabbed his children. All he grabbed were his wallet and cell phone.
The family had lived in the 1,900-square-foot ranch-style home for about seven and a half years, Guglielmo said. Both of their cars also burned in the blaze.
Neighbors and Giubbini said the wind Tuesday was relatively calm at the top of the hilly neighborhood. Had weather conditions been different, burning embers could have spread through the hills and threatened dozens of homes nearby, Giubbini said.
About a half-dozen neighbors watched the house burn.
"That thing was so engulfed when I got to the top of the hill, I couldn't believe it," Bob McKinney said.
Two engines from CDF, two from San Luis Obispo County Fire, one from the CDF in Monterey County and one from the Paso Robles Department of Emergency Services responded to the fire. About 20 firefighters battled the blaze, Giubbini said. Two air tankers and an attack plane were called to the scene but were not used.
Around 5:30 p.m., the fire was considered contained, Giubbini said. He expected to have it under control about three to four hours later.
