Vintage vehicles, collectibles destroyed in garage fireby

BERT WILLIAMS, News Editor
Fire raged in a residential garage at 409 Duncan Drive late in
the afternoon on Jan. 20, destroying partially restored vehicles,
and valuable collectibles. Firefighters succeeded in containing the
inferno to the garage and driveway, saving the rest of the house,
and the neighboring house, which was also initially threatened.
Firefighters from the Windsor and Rincon Valley fire districts
were dispatched to the scene at 5:20 p.m., arriving at 5:24 p.m. to
find the garage fully engulfed, with flames leaping out the garage
door opening.
The homeowner’s 12-year-old son was at home watching television,
and did not know the garage was on fire until he was alerted by
neighbors, according to Windsor Fire Protection District Captain
Ron Busch. Police and firefighters searched the house when they
arrived, rescuing the family dog.
Homeowner Daniel Patrick McCurnin was a collector, and had
filled the garage with collectibles, according to Busch. Destroyed
inside the garage were a partially-restored Harley Davidson
motorcycle, a 1956 Chevy pickup, a collection of hundreds of
miniature Hot wheels cars, Playboy magazines from the 1950s,
original art and a first edition of the book The Cat and the Hat by
Dr. Seuss. Destroyed in the driveway were a 21-foot ski boat, a GMC
van and a Porsche 944 sports car.
After beating back the fire and assuring that the neighboring
structures were safe, firefighters worked for hours to fully
extinguish the smoldering contents of the gutted garage. They
departed the scene at 9 p.m.
The remainder of the house suffered major smoke damage. Busch
said that firefighters poured water on the fire from inside the
house as well as from outside. He said there was only minor damage
to the living quarters, beyond the smoke damage.
Damage to the house next door included burned trim, a scorched
gutter and satellite dish and a burned fence.
According to WFPD Battalion Chief Matt Gustafson, the cause of
the fire was determined to be an electrical short in an industrial
compressor housed inside the garage. Busch said damage estimates
could run as high as $200,000, taking into account the vehicles and
the potential value of the collectibles that were destroyed.