Fire in south Modesto sends man to hospital with burns

One person suffered burns in a fire that followed a reported blast in an outbuilding behind a home on Alamo Avenue in south Modesto on Wednesday afternoon.

At about 1:30 p.m., a Modesto Fire Department engine was dispatched to a report of smoke in the area, said Division Chief Michael Lillie. While the engine was responding, a California Highway Patrol officer arrived at the scene and reported there had been some kind of explosion, Lillie said.

The fire became two-alarm on a report that it had spread to a second structure, so a total of six engines, two truck companies and four chief officers responded, he said.

One adult male was taken by ambulance for burns. Because there is no burn center in Stanislaus County, burn victims typically are airlifted, Lillie said. But the crew of an American Medical Response ambulance that already had been dispatched to the scene decided not to wait for a helicopter, Lillie said. He didn’t know whether that was because the burns were minor or the patient was burned severely enough that waiting wasn’t an option.

It also wasn’t clear whether the man was in the outbuilding – a shed – on the 900 block of Alamo Avenue when the fire began or suffered the burns while trying to extinguish it, he said. A fire investigator was en route to the hospital to try to speak to the victim.

Matt Flores, who lives across the street, said a blast that preceded the fire was large enough to rattle his home. He said he saw a man who lives in the outbuilding walk out front covered in soot. Two men who live in the home were trying to put out the fire with a garden hose before firefighters arrived and had them leave the area for safety reasons, Flores said.

Maria Garcia-Diaz said the fire spread to her parents’ property and her brother lives in a studio that burned. Her parents were home at the time but were not injured. Her brother was not home. Garcia-Diaz said her parents have heard several explosions from the neighboring property over the past three or four days.

When fire crews arrived, they found the blaze had taken down power lines in an alley behind the homes, Lillie said. The Turlock Irrigation District secured the live lines so firefighters could battle the fire. A crew also reported the occasional smell of natural gas, Lillie said, so lines to the property were secured to ensure there were no leaks.

“We declared knockdown at 41 minutes,” Lillie said. “At about an hour, we declared the fire under control.” Firefighters were working in low-90s temperatures, and the first crews worked those initial 41 minutes without relief. Once the fire was knocked down, those firefighters removed their jackets and were evaluated by paramedics to ensure they were unhurt.

The fire damage to both properties was estimated at $55,000, said Modesto Battalion Chief Tim Tietjen. The shed where the fire originated was destroyed, and the studio apartment behind the neighboring home suffered serious damage, including a partial roof collapse.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Fire in south Modesto sends man to hospital with burns."