Firefighters took a break yesterday after extinguishing a home fire at 3950 Sierra Drive. The fire broke out at approximately 2 p.m. It took firefighters about 20 minutes to extinguish the blaze. No injuries were reported.
Wilhelmina Rise home
totaled in fireA neighbor braves falling glass
to fight the fire with a hose
Wilhelmina Rise resident Bill Lane was loading his car with orchids and bonsai yesterday when he caught a whiff of smoke. His neighbor must be having a barbecue, he figured.
Within 15 seconds, Lane said, he realized his neighbor's house was on fire, and he went for the garden hose.
Fire destroyed the home at 3950 Sierra Drive yesterday, leaving three people homeless.
More than 30 firefighters fought the fire at about 2 p.m. The two-story house was engulfed before firefighters arrived, said fire Capt. Kenison Tejada.
Firefighters had the blaze under control at 2:19 p.m. and extinguished at 3:21 p.m. Nobody was home at the time of the fire, Tejada said.
"It's totaled," he said, adding that parts of the roof and rear of the home had collapsed.
The American Red Cross helped residents Russell Kagesa and his wife and mother with living arrangements. An official with the organization said they will be staying with family members and friends.
Damage to the home and its contents is estimated at $310,000.
Fire investigators have yet to determine what caused the fire; however, police said it might be related to the kitchen stove.
Lane told another neighbor to call 911 when he realized there was a fire. He grabbed a garden hose and tried to fight the fire himself.
Broken pieces of plate glass from the second-floor windows of the home started to drop around Lane's feet as the fire grew, he said.
"Big pieces of glass was falling, just nearly missing me," Lane said. The left rear corner of Lane's house was also scorched by the fire.
"I'm glad nobody got hurt," said Lane.
Another neighbor said she was in the kitchen when she smelled smoke. At first, Courtney Inter thought it was smoke coming from her stove, until her mother saw flames coming out of their neighbor's kitchen window.
"Within minutes it spread," said Inter, whose brother and father also grabbed hoses to help put out the fire. "It went quickly."
"Thank God they weren't home."
