Battalion chief, probation officers rescue woman from three-alarm fire in Ceres
A Ceres Fire Department battalion chief and three Stanislaus County Probation Department officers saved a woman from a burning home Monday morning.
Battalion Chief Jeff Serpa said he was driving on Sixth Street at about 11:15 a.m., when he saw flames and smoke coming from the back of a home in the 2200 block.
He radioed for crews and went to the home, where he was met by the probation officers, who also happened to be in the area.
A woman came out of the home with her dog and said her mother, whom she is caring for, was still inside, Serpa said.
Serpa and the probation officers went inside, found the woman, believed to be in her 60s, and carried her out.
Serpa said wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph quickly extended the fire, which threatened the surrounding homes. It was well-involved when the first engine arrived on scene.
He called for a second alarm, and then a third, as the fire spread to a detached garage on another property behind the home. The Modesto Fire Department and the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District assisted Ceres.
It took firefighters more than an hour to extinguish the flames while preventing them from spreading.
A Ceres firefighter who was protecting a neighboring home suffered a first-degree burn on his arm. Both he and the woman carried from the home were treated by paramedics at the scene, Serpa said.
The American Red Cross is assisting the women with housing.
The fire started in the garage, where investigators found candles and camp stoves, according to Dustin Bruley, supervisor of the Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit.
There were no utilities hooked up to the home, he said.
The cause of the fire, which did an estimated $200,000 in damage, remains under investigation.
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 2:19 PM.
