Modesto fire calls include toddler in pool, kids missing from fire scene
A busy Saturday for Modesto firefighters included two child-related emergency responses that could have ended much worse.
The first involved two preteens unaccounted for at the scene of an apartment fire. Crews were dispatched to a structure fire call on the 1400 block of Floyd Avenue at about 9:50 a.m..
Heavy smoke and fire were coming from one unit, and there were initial reports that two children still may have been inside.
Crews confined the fire to the single unit and did primary and secondary searches. The children were not inside. They were eventually located at a relative’s house, according to an incident summary.
“It sounds like the mom was out and the kids were there a short time, “ Battalion Chief Ed Bartley said Sunday morning. It was only five minutes or so before an investigator determined the children were at a relative’s home not in the apartment complex but nearby.
The Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit was on the scene to determine cause and origin.
Saturday afternoon, shortly after 2:30 p.m., emergency crews responded to a home on the 2700 block of Wickman Court for a reported drowning.
A toddler was removed from a swimming pool and lifesaving measures were initiated. The little boy began breathing and was alert and orientated by the time he was airlifted to a hospital.
There were mixed reports on how long the child may have been in the pool, but it apparently was a couple of minutes, Bartley said. Modesto Police Department officers were on scene gathering information on the circumstances of the incident.
