Crew leaving vegetation fire spots blaze at Modesto home; three people displaced

Three people were displaced and three structures burned by a two alarm fire in south Modesto’s Shackelford neighborhood Sunday night.

At about 11:15 p.m. firefighters with Modesto and Ceres fire departments had just put out a vegetation fire in the area of Ninth Street and Pecos Avenue when the Ceres crew leaving the scene saw flames and smoke coming from Boulder Avenue, said Modesto Modesto Fire Department Battalion Chief Andrew Hunter.

The Ceres crew located the fire and notified dispatch and the Modesto crews also responded.

Hunter said two outbuildings behind a home in the 1200 block of Boulder were on fire, as well as vegetation and large objects including boats, cars and trailers surrounding the building.

“Crews began to attack the fire from the exterior of the buildings ... but due to advanced fire conditions and limited access to burning material, the volume of fire upon arrival and limited access to water supply, the fire extended to an additional building adjacent to the property,” Hunter said.

He said the nearest hydrant was about 800 feet away.

The building the fire extended to, an in-law quarters on a property to the north, had three residents inside.

Hunter said they all escaped without injury but were displaced as a result of the damage to their home. Red Cross provided assistance. It took about 45 minutes to extinguish the fires.

The two outbuildings were destroyed, Hunter said. He did not have an estimate on the cost of the damage and said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

This story was originally published June 3, 2019 at 12:16 PM.