A fire destroyed a home on the 500 block of Powell Street early
Wednesday morning, killing two dogs and leaving a family of four,
one of whom sustained fairly serious injuries, in the care of the
American Red Cross.
Hollister – A fire destroyed a home on the 500 block of Powell Street early Wednesday morning, killing two dogs and leaving a family of four, one of whom sustained fairly serious injuries, in the care of the American Red Cross.
While the cause of the fire was still under investigation by the Hollister Fire Department at press time, Helen Castro, who lives in the house with her boyfriend Guadalupe Rodriguez and two children, believes an old breaker box is to blame for the incident.
“This is an old house, and we’d had problems with that box before,” she said.
By the time firefighters arrived on the scene, the family had escaped from the burning house, the entire front half of which was completely engulfed in flames. Roofing tiles on a neighboring house began melting due to their proximity to the fire.
Castro says she was the first to wake up and notice the fire, and escaped through the front door with her two dogs, a Labrador retriever named Moose and a pit bull named Baby.
“I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t know how to help my kids get out,” she said. “Once I knew my family was safe, I ran to the neighbors to wake them up, in case the fire spread to their house.”
Rodriguez escaped next, through a window in Castro’s bedroom, obtaining several serious cuts in the process.
“It looked like he flew out the window,” said Castro. “He has asthma, so the smoke made him very sick, and he was cut to the bone when he fell.”
Confused, the two dogs ran back into the burning house – to retrieve Castro’s two teenaged children, she believes. While the children, 16-year-old Jesse and 15-year-old Priscilla, managed to escape through a back window, the deceased dogs were later discovered by firefighters.
“That’s the kind of dogs they were,” said Castro. “They went back to get their kids.”
The fire department first received a call reporting flames in the Powell Street area at 3:35am Wednesday, and a few minutes later an actual structure fire was reported. The fire department arrived at the house at 3:40am and 13 firefighters had the blaze under control in about an hour. Three engines, one truck and an air unit were required to quell the fire.
“It took a lot of water,” said Fire Captain Tim Schneider. “First, we aggressively attacked the fire with large diameter hoses before we made an interior attack.”
The fire department’s assault on the blaze was made more difficult by live power wires hanging across the street and over the neighboring property, emitting sparks and charging a chain-link fence erected around the house next door.
“One hit from that and you’re dead,” said Schneider. “We had to be really careful. But the sparks did make it easier to see, so that was almost kind of nice.”
The family was taken to Hazel Hawkins Hospital and released shortly thereafter, except Rodriguez, who was airlifted to Santa Clara Valley Hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation. The family is meeting with Red Cross volunteers, who will see to the basic food, clothing and shelter needs of the family.
“I was doing laundry the day before, so I was able to save a few baskets of clothes and some blankets,” said Castro. “But everything else is gone. I’m scared, and I feel numb, but I’m glad my kids are okay.”
While both the front and back yards of the house were left almost completely unscathed – tiny garden statuettes were still undisturbed from their positions in the front late Wednesday morning – the fire ruined a house worth approximately $500,000 and cost the residents around $100,000 in damage to their personal belongs. Fire officials are doubtful of whether the house can be made habitable again.
“I would probably write this house off,” said Schneider. “But the house has a good foundation, and it’s amazing what they can do these days.”
The property was fenced off early Wednesday afternoon, to allow insurance companies 60 days to conduct their own investigations, according to Code Enforcer Michael Chambless. After 60 days, the property owner must decide what to do with the house.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected].
