A two-story Fitch Mountain house burned Friday in a blaze that
fire officials say was likely the result of electrical wiring in
the laundry room.
More than $225,000 in damages were caused Friday morning to the
Del Rio Woods home, according to the Healdsburg Fire Department,
who responded to the call at 10:20 a.m.
Upon arrival, firefighters encountered heavy fire involvement
and flames were visible from the second floor of the two-story
home. When firefighters entered the house, the fire was burning on
the first floor and had completely burned out the stairway to the
second floor, said Healdsburg Fire Chief Steve Adams.
“Because the laundry was on the first floor in a room tucked
underneath the stairway, (the fire) really got to build up in the
wall,” Adams said. “When the crews got there, they were able to put
the fire out on the first floor relatively quickly and went to make
their way upstairs, but quickly realized that wasn’t going to
happen.” Firefighters set up a ground ladder inside to crawl up to
the second floor to make sure there was nobody inside the home.
Adams said the resident of the house was in Susanville at the
time of the fire. He said while the house isn’t a total loss,
significant renovations will have to be done on the second
story.
“There was major fire damage on the second floor, but all the
furniture was saved,” Adams said. “The structure itself will be
able to be renovated.”
Dan Zimmerman, a reserve firefighter with Healdsburg fire
sustained an injury to his back as a result of falling debris and
was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for observation.
Adams said he spoke with Zimmerman on Monday morning and that he
was sore, but fortunately hadn’t fractured any vertebrae during the
accident.
A total of eight engines were assigned to the fire from
Healdsburg, Geyserville, Windsor, Sonoma County, Rincon Valley,
Cloverdale and Forestville.
