Fire burns two-story house in Turlock; cause under investigation

A fire burned a vacant two-story house on West Main Street Wednesday night, destroying the home's basement and damaging its first and second floors.

On Thursday afternoon, the cause of the fire remained under investigation, according to the Turlock Fire Department. The Turlock police patrol logs indicated officers at the scene found evidence related to the fire.

The house fire was reported shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday at the house in the 800 block of West Main Street, near West Avenue in Turlock.

Numerous callers reported smoke was moving across in the road and causing concern for traffic in both directions. Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke billowing from the burning house.

The firefighters launched an offensive fire attack to stop the flames from spreading further. They also searched the burning house for any occupants.

Nobody was inside the home, said Turlock Fire Capt. Kevin Tidwell. No injuries were reported.

As some firefighters went to the back of the house to extinguish the flames in the basement, others attacked the flames that had spread to the home's first and second floors.

Fire officials said the firefighters got the blaze under control and stopped the flames from causing further damage to home's exterior.

“The residence was balloon frame constructed; no fire stops in the walls," Turlock Fire Chief Robert Talloni said in a news release Thursday. "The fire was mainly contained to the basement with little extension to the attic."

The Ceres Fire Department also assisted in responding to the house fire. Turlock police assisted with traffic control.

Investigators ask anyone with information about this house fire to call Fire Marshal Mark Gomez at 209-669-2119 or send an e-mail to mgomez@turlock.ca.us.

This story was originally published July 5, 2018 at 3:59 PM.