Home off McHenry Avenue in north Modesto destroyed by fire

A fire destroyed a home and an outbuilding in an almond orchard off McHenry Avenue in north Modesto on Tuesday afternoon.

Firefighters with the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District and Modesto Fire Department were dispatched to the area of Claratina and McHenry avenues and found a huge column of black smoke behind the Simi Floral Supply Center Wedding and Party Store that’s located nearby at Bangs Avenue and McHenry.

Firefighters had to access the fire along a canal road south of the flower store, Stanislaus Consolidated Captain Buck Condit said.

When they reached it they found a home and an outbuilding already collapsed by fire and flames spreading to a second home.

Using water from the nearby canal firefighters extinguished the fire, preventing it from spreading further into the second home and surrounding almond orchard.

A Modesto firefighter suffered heat exhaustion during the incident and was treated at a hospital, Condit said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Power still was connected to both homes but it appears no one had lived in either for some time, Condit said. There appears to have been a homeless encampment on the property.

This story was originally published August 22, 2017 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Home off McHenry Avenue in north Modesto destroyed by fire."