Firefighters are still investigating what caused a Monday morning fire that destroyed a doublewide mobile home in Nipomo, just north of the Santa Maria Speedway.
The blaze ripped apart the center of the 1,000-square-foot home, causing $75,000 of damage. But it did not spread to an adjacent two-story Spanish-tiled house.
Arelia Diaz, who owns both homes on the rural property, cried as she watched firefighters haul out charred items -- including burnt stuffed animals -- from the house. Diaz was in the two-story home when she heard a popping sound from outside.
Diaz said she was just thankful that the couple and three young children who lived there were not home when the fire began.
"I was scared to death," she said. "It's a good thing they are OK."
Nearly two dozen firefighters from CDF/County Fire, Arroyo Grande and Santa Maria responded to 740 Joshua Road to find half the home already in flames.
"Our biggest concern was water supply," said CDF Engineer/Paramedic Robert McIlroy.
There wasn't a nearby fire hydrant or tank, so fire engines had to fill up and then transport water in from a resident's 10,000-gallon tank about a mile away. Firefighters later repeated the process, using a Nipomo fire hydrant about three miles away.
They contained the blaze at 10:38 a.m., about an hour after receiving the 911 call. One firefighter suffered from heat stress, but did not need hospitalization.
Monday's blaze is the second mobile home fire in the past four days in Nipomo. A Friday electrical blaze caused $50,000 of damage to a home in the 1600 block of South Thompson.
