Home south of Hollister was completely destroyed by blaze
Wednesday
After a large blaze burned through a two-story house on Ashford
Circle Wednesday morning, Firefighters spent most of day searching
for the homeowner, who was feared to be inside.
The woman eventually showed up at the house, and was safe and
unharmed, said Jonathan Pangburn, Calfire unit information
officer.
The blaze, with a cause still unknown to firefighters, erupted
before 5 a.m. when firefighters received a call about a structure
fire in the gated community of Ashford Circle.
When firefighters arrived, the house was already a total loss,
said Pangburn at the scene.
Home south of Hollister was completely destroyed by blaze Wednesday
After a large blaze burned through a two-story house on Ashford Circle Wednesday morning, Firefighters spent most of day searching for the homeowner, who was feared to be inside.
The woman eventually showed up at the house, and was safe and unharmed, said Jonathan Pangburn, Calfire unit information officer.
The blaze, with a cause still unknown to firefighters, erupted before 5 a.m. when firefighters received a call about a structure fire in the gated community of Ashford Circle.
When firefighters arrived, the house was already a total loss, said Pangburn at the scene.
The home had one resident – a woman in her 90s – and in the morning, investigators had yet to come in contact with her, Pangburn said.
“At this point all indications point toward the resident was not inside,” he said Wednesday morning. “We are still waiting for confirmation on that.”
The woman was the sole resident of the home, which was in foreclosure, he said. Most of the home was empty, except for one bed on the left side of the building.
“First arriving units found a structure about 8,000 square feet and about half was already involved in flames,” Pangburn said, “which means at that point all you can do is protect it from extending into neighboring structures and vegetation.”
The large, two-story home is rested atop a hill on Ashford Circle, and it runs along the backside of the slope. The right side of the building was fully collapsed, with piles of ash rubble around it.
Initial searches showed no sign of the resident, but it was too hot to fully search the entire house, Pangburn said.
Six fire engines and 32 firefighters fought the fire for nearly four hours, as the building’s massive size and heat caused difficulty for firefighters, Pangburn said.
“It was really difficult when you come into a situation with a really large home that is that involved when you first arrive on scene,” Pangburn said.
Around 9:30 a.m., firefighters were still applying water to the smoldering building. Investigators were searching the perimeter looking for any signs of the cause. Investigators had not searched the building because of the excessive heat.
“Investigators are on scene, but it’s still very hot in there and they haven’t been able to start their investigation,” Pangburn said at about 9:30 a.m.
Firefighters have yet to determine the cause or the origin of the blaze, he said.
No other homes were damaged in the blaze, and there were no reported injuries.
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