Vacant home burns near Modesto’s DMV office

A fire in a small, vacant rental on Jennie Street on Wednesday evening likely was started by vagrants who had been breaking in at dark, neighbors said.

Modesto firefighters quickly extinguished flames in a bedroom of the 96-year-old unit, a bit east of the Department of Motor Vehicles’ Modesto office. No occupants were located and no one was hurt.

“There’s nothing in there,” Battalion Chief Tim Tietjen said. The cause of the fire is under investigation, he said.

John Rogers was walking his dog about 7:30 p.m. when he smelled something burning, he said. He came upon neighbor Katrina Curtis, who saw smoke coming from a common attic shared by Rogers’ unit.

Rogers quickly evacuated Phyllis Ponder, “my housemate, companion, soul mate for 10 years,” he said. She has a chronic lung disease and fled with several oxygen tanks. They were allowed to return less than an hour later.

“These squatters come in at dark,” Rogers said. “We kept saying we would call the police, but I was homeless once, and this is the first step off the street, $500 a month.”

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Vacant home burns near Modesto’s DMV office."