South Modesto house fire displaces 3 people

Three people were displaced by a fire that did extensive damage to a four-bedroom home in the 1900 block of Cielito Drive in south Modesto on Thursday morning.

The first call went out at 6:40 a.m., said Modesto Fire Department Battalion Chief Jesse Nicasio, and the first engine to arrive on scene saw fire and heavy smoke coming from upstairs windows.

Other Modesto and Ceres crews arrived and made “an aggressive attack up the stairs and were able to contain the fire to the second story,” Nicasio said. “Crews were met with fire at the top of the stairs and pushed it to the back of the house.”

The three occupants of the home had safely evacuated before firefighters arrived. One resident, who gave her name only as Jenna, said a roommate in the master bedroom, where the fire broke out, awoke her and a third roommate by banging on a bedroom door and yelling “fire” and calling for help. She said the roommate did not say anything about what might have caused the fire.

Investigators had not entered the 2,210-square-foot home to explore the origin and cause of the fire, Nicasio said about 7:30 a.m. He did say the upstairs, which includes all four bedrooms, suffered extensive damage. “The master bedroom is pretty bad,” Jenna said.

Firefighters also had to cut holes in the roof for ventilation.

Pacific Gas & Electric and Turlock Irrigation District crews arrived on the scene to address utility damage.

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 8:45 AM with the headline "South Modesto house fire displaces 3 people."