Operations & Training

Unattended Squatter Fire Damages CA Residence

Nov. 17, 2021

Firefighters had to cut through a living room floor to fully extinguish a fire that began when a squatter in a Fresno home left a fireplace unattended.

By Jim Guy

Source The Fresno Bee

A firefighter uses a chainsaw to cut through the floor as crews extinguish a fire that extended from an unattended fireplace in a Fresno, CA, home on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021.

Nov. 16—A fire in southeast Fresno Tuesday heavily damaged a home at Rowell and Iowa avenues after a homeless man allowed a warming blaze in the fireplace to go out of control, the fire department reported.

The blaze was called in about noon. No one was injured, and the amount of damage was being assessed.

Fire spokesman Jonathan Lopez said that the suspect had built a large fire in the fireplace and then went to take a shower. While he was enjoying the shower, the fire somehow jumped onto the floor of the home and began spreading.

Arriving firefighters rescued the man as they fought the fire, but at some point, the man ran from the scene and is at large.

___

Visit The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.) at www.fresnobee.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.