Vacant home in west Modesto burns

Firefighters extinguished a blaze at a vacant house in west Modesto early Monday.

The report went out at 3:48 a.m. as a possible church fire, so a commercial response was dispatched, said Modesto Fire Department Battalion Chief Hugo Patino.

Firefighters arrived to find a house at Gutherie Street and Imperial Avenue on fire, threatening two adjacent structures, including New Beginnings Tabernacle of Life.

The residence had burned before and was known to have transients residing in it, Patino said. “After we had the fire knocked down, we did a search and found no one,” he said.

The house, which had significant damage from the previous fire, burned to the ground this time, but the neighboring buildings were protected.

This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 11:42 AM with the headline "Vacant home in west Modesto burns."