Woman displaced, dog killed in Modesto mobile home fire

A woman was displaced and her dog died in an early morning fire at a south Modesto mobile home park Friday.

The Modesto Fire Department received multiple reports of a fire at a residence in Modesto Mobile Village in the 600 block of South Seventh Street at about 7:15 a.m., said Battalion Chief Hugo Patino.

“An elderly woman resided there,” he said. “Neighbors were pounding on the door to wake her up; she escaped with her life. There were no smoke detector in the mobile home.”

Heavy smoke was pouring from the home when firefighters arrived. They battled the blaze from the exterior to cool it down.

When they tried to enter the home, it was still too hot because the resident had put sheetrock over many of the windows. “Instead of the fire blowing out the windows and releasing the heat, it held it inside,” Patino said.

He said investigators believe the fire started behind a hot water heater.

“We don’t know whether it was a mechanical failure or combustibles too close to the water heater,” Patino said.

The mobile home was destroyed, and the resident’s dog perished in the fire.

The American Red Cross was called to assist the woman.

The fire caused an estimated $25,000 in damage to the structure and $10,000 to its contents.

This story was originally published May 8, 2015 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Woman displaced, dog killed in Modesto mobile home fire."