Fire damages southwest Ceres house. Piles of junk outside complicate response
A fire Friday afternoon heavily damaged a house in a southwest Ceres alley strewn with junk.
The call came at about 3:30 p.m. to an alley behind the 2300 block of Walnut Avenue, just west of Central Avenue.
The fire did an estimated $95,000 in damage to the house, Ceres Fire Chief Kevin Wise said at the scene. No injuries were reported. The cause is under investigation.
Firefighters had to contend with junk piled in front of the house, a matter that the city had been in the process of addressing through code enforcement, Wise said.
The junk included shelving, lumber, a file cabinet, a bicycle and many other items. Water from fire hoses combined with Friday’s rain to turn the dirt alley to mud.
The American Red Cross was contacted to help the displaced residents.
The Ceres Fire Department had help on the call from the Modesto Fire Department and the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District.
This story was originally published February 15, 2019 at 5:42 PM.
