How family, its dog and two birds escape serious injuries in Turlock house fire

A family, along with its dog and two pet birds, escaped serious injuries Saturday night after a fire tore through their home in Turlock.

Firefighters were called to the 1900 block of Geer Road at about 9 p.m. on a report that people were trapped inside a burning home.

The fire, which began in the garage, spread to the house. When firefighters arrived, all the occupants, including the dog, were out of the house. Firefighters did perform a search of the residence and rescued the two birds, according to Capt. Kevin Tidwell of the Turlock Fire Department.

As firefighters battled the blaze, electrical lines came down on the road and burned through several hose lines. Fire crews halted their approach at the front of the house, set up another hose line and began to battle the blaze from the rear.

Turlock Irrigation District workers arrived and eliminated the electrical threat, allowing firefighters to continue their work from the front of the house.

“City firefighters braved multiple fires and hazardous conditions searching for occupants and achieving total fire extinguishment,” Fire Chief Robert Talloni said.

The fire was contained in about 30 minutes.

One occupant was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and has since been released.

The American Red Cross worked with the family to find shelter.

Along with Turlock, the Ceres Fire Department brought support and the Turlock Rural Fire Protection District offered additional coverage of Turlock’s territory, covering one call while resources were tied to the Geer Road incident.

American Medical Response and Pacific Gas & Electric also provided support.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Tidwell said. No estimate on the damage has been released.

This story was originally published March 18, 2018 at 11:45 AM with the headline "How family, its dog and two birds escape serious injuries in Turlock house fire."