Calif. Firefighter Treated After Blasts Spark Blaze

CHICO, Calif. -- One strong explosion and two smaller ones shook homes this afternoon near Chestnut and West 14th streets, bringing neighbors outside to find a house on fire.

The two adults and two children who live in the house on the 1400 block of Chestnut Street were not home at the time, Chico fire inspector Marie Fickert said.

Medics treated Chico firefighter Mike Velazquez on a gurney for heat-related illness and transported him by ambulance to Enloe Medical Center as a precaution, Fickert said.

"A challenge today is heat," she said. "It's extremely hot."

Temperatures hit 102 degrees.

Fickert said fire investigators are working on what started the blaze and how much damage it did.

A neighbor heard loud explosion that rattled his windows, "almost like a car hit the side of his house," Fickert said. He came outside to find flames coming from the back of the home next to RVs parked in the side yard. The man called 9-1-1 at 2:26 p.m. and then heard the two smaller explosions that each followed whistling sounds.

Neighbors banged on the door but no one came out.

Chico fire crews arrived to find smoke and flames, Fickert said. They cleared the house, finding no residents, and started to attack the blaze. Neighbors helped by spraying water from garden hoses on the burning RVs.

The fire sent dark plume into the air.

Firefighters stopped the flames from spreading to neighboring homes.

Chico police closed off two blocks of Chestnut Street for a few hours.

Three Chico fire engines, one truck, Company One Volunteers and chiefs responded along with one engine and an air support vehicle from Cal Fire-Butte County, Fickert said.