Where there’s smoke, there’s ... a cinder-block pizza oven burning in a van in Modesto
A man is fortunate to have suffered only minor smoke inhalation when he lit a fire in his Dodge Caravan minivan to bake a pizza, according to the Modesto Fire Department.
An engine crew responded Saturday to reports of a vehicle fire in the 1500 block of Oregon Drive in Modesto’s airport neighborhood. It arrived to find smoke coming from van’s interior and the occupant still inside, according to a battalion chief’s incident summary.
The doors of the van were closed and the man had to be “coaxed” out, Battalion Chief Darin Jesberg said Sunday morning.
The man had set up a makeshift, cinder-block pizza oven in the van. He was burning perhaps wood, charcoal, cardboard or a combination of fuels to bake a pizza, Jesberg said.
The engine crew put out the smoldering fire with an extinguisher. The man was treated at the scene.
In photos taken by the Fire Department, it appears at least one of the van’s rear seats was missing. The vehicle was packed with belongings, including a wooden nightstand right next to the block oven.
On the fire being built inside the van, Jesberg commented, “You think you’ve seen it all until you see something like this.”
He noted fire crews have responded to fires set in tents, especially when the Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter was operating. But dangerous as those were, they at least had more ventilation that a closed-door minivan.
