Crews put out multiple structure fires last week

Residents displaced from two-alarm fire
Windsor Fire officials worked hard last week battling three separate structure fires, one that claimed the residence of a care home for special needs adults.
The fire broke out in a plastic shed behind a home at 9591 Christine Way. It moved to an adjacent shed before claiming the home and catching the neighboring home on fire. Responders were notified at 11:29 p.m. and stayed on the scene until morning, searching the rubble for the occupants belongings.
“Not only did they do an amazing job, because the fire was in the attic crawl space, the roof and other tight spaces, but they also did a great job salvaging items such as glasses, a cane, dentures, wallets and the vest for the service dog. Once all of that stuff comes down it’s like finding a needle in a haystack,” said Fire Investigator Cindi Foreman.
The residential care home had a total of seven occupants including four special needs adults, one service dog and two other pet dogs. The owner of the home was the only occupant injured with minor burns from attempting to put the fire out.
“Although it was a tragedy, it went smoothly for the residents in the care home because they were diligent and they had practiced their drills, and that was a huge successful component,” said Foreman. “They knew what to do, they were all there at the meeting place. It really go to show that when you take time to prepare you are ready. That family did a great job.”
The fire was a two-home, two-alarm fire, meaning that aid was brought in from fire officials in Santa Rosa, Rincon Valley, Healdsburg and Geyserville.
The second home, next door at 9589 Christine Way was unoccupied at the time of the fire. The owners had just purchased it and received the keys the Friday prior.
“In both buildings we had to ventilate the roof. Both suffered extensive damage because fire got in attic,” explained Foreman.
It was determined that the cause was accidental, although the two things investigators can’t rule out is electrical wiring and discarded smoking materials.
Just over 24 hours later, at midnight on Wednesday, another house fire broke out at 450 Skylark Street.
Crews arrived on the scene noticing what they thought was smoke through a chimney pipe, but quickly realizing the smoke was coming out of the attic. Foreman said that it was determined that the fire was in the attic around the stove pipe for the chimney. It was also determined to be accidental, caused by either the sheet metal getting too hot or electrical around the area.
“There was probably about $25,000 worth of damage to the roof structure. Gas and electric had to be turned off,” said Foreman.
“On this fire the Windsor fire crews had such a long day the day before and they did an amazing job and they worked just as hard as the night before. We were careful to minimize damage to the house, not causing additional damage,” she said.
Fire department officials said that the most important lesson taken from last week is how important it is to be prepared for a fire or other emergency, “We really want our residents to practice fire drills, have a meeting place, have their chimney cleaned and inspected every year, and have their heater checked by a licensed contractor,” Foreman said.