Whipping winds fuel fire that destroys home in north Modesto
Flames fanned by heavy winds destroyed a residence and damaged others in the Homewood Village manufactured home community off Mable Avenue in north Modesto on Sunday morning. Embers carried by the wind also damaged the shake roof of a house on Spring Oak Drive, just to the east of Homewood Village, Modesto Fire Department Battalion Chief Andrew Hunter said at the scene.
Modesto and Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District crews responded to the 10:49 a.m. report of a home on fire on Moana Way, at the far east side of the village. No one was injured in the fire, Hunter said. The one person in the home got out on his own.
Crews protected a home on the downwind side of the primary fire, tearing the skirting away to ensure fire didn’t spread. That home suffered some exterior damage, as did the adjacent home on the upwind side of the fire. A fourth home in Homewood Village, a couple of doors down from the primary fire, also suffered some damage, Hunter said.
“The wind had a significant impact in the growth of the fire and the damage,” Hunter said. But because of the quick response to the scene, firefighters were able to limit its spread, he said.
Crews had the primary fire well under control within half an hour, largely doing mop-up by that time. Modesto Fire Station 7 is on Mable Avenue less than a half mile away.
Response to the two-alarm blaze totaled two trucks, eight engines and four chief officers. Modesto police also had several units on scene and launched a drone to give firefighters perspective on where the fire was expanding, Hunter said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, he said, but appears accidental.
High winds caused problems across Stanislaus and neighboring counties Sunday. At the start of the 2 p.m. hour, Modesto Fire had five engines on calls of trees into power lines.
Crews in the Patterson area responded to a call of a 9-year-old boy struck by a dry, falling tree. Dispatch communications indicated he suffered minor injury.
The Modesto Police Department posted on Facebook at 1 p.m. that several traffic lights around town were out. It told drivers to treat all blacked-out signals as four-way stops. “Completely stop at each intersection.”
About 2:10 p.m., Sgt. Pat Kimes said there were 35 calls holding about downed trees and limbs. There were reports of property damage, but he knew of no injuries.
And the Ripon Police Department said in a news release shortly after 1 p.m. that the northbound Highway 99 on- and off-ramps at Milgeo Avenue would be closed at least six hours while Pacific Gas & Electric repaired a downed power pole.
This story was originally published February 9, 2020 at 12:53 PM.
