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A small fire with a huge potential for destruction of a vintage Yale Street home converted to apartments was stopped in its tracks by a resident and then quickly extinguished by Santa Paula Fire personnel Sunday after a firefighter at a Veterans Park event smelled smoke. Above, firefighters exit the structure at 928 Yale Street after extinguishing the fire. |
Small Yale Street fire with huge potential quickly extinguished
June 30, 2010
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
A small fire with a huge potential for destruction of a vintage Yale Street home converted to apartments was stopped in its tracks by a resident and then quickly extinguished by Santa Paula Fire personnel Sunday after a firefighter at a Veterans Park event smelled smoke.
SPFD Captain Steve Lazenby said Engine 81 was on display in the parking lot just north of a Veterans Park health fair “when there was a structure fire smell in the west wind.” Lazenby looked west on Yale Street for any visible signs of fire and spotted a person “in the middle of the street waving for help.”
Lazenby ordered Engine 81 and 82 to an as yet undetermined problem that could be a fire on Yale Street at the Mill Street intersection. An ambulance was also dispatched just in case of a medical emergency.
“Engine 81 responded from approximately 100 yards from our location to the front of 928 Yale Street” to find light smoke coming from an upstairs window, and a “working fire” response was requested. “The fire attack crew located a small fire that appeared to be in the incipient stage in the living area of the converted attic,” and Lazenby said the fire was extinguished “with one well placed discharge of two or three gallons of water from the attack line from the top of the stairs into the corner of the bedroom.”
During the investigation, “It was found that there was a great deal more fire, smoke and heat damage to the rooms upstairs than was consistent with the size of the small fire” extinguished by firefighters.
When the resident of the apartment was contacted, Lazenby said, “He reported that when he arrived home to find smoke emitting from his bedroom window he went upstairs,” where he found that combustible items near a corner lamp had caught on fire. “He stated he ran downstairs and got a bucket of water and dumped it over the fire” before he left the building.
Lazenby said, “It is likely that the majority of the fire, smoke and heat damage from the fire was caused by the fire prior to the resident’s bucket attack” on the blaze. Firefighters removed a small area of plaster from the walls around the fire and the lower part of the ceiling above “to confirm that there was no extension of the fire from the contents to the structure.” Although the floor and carpet of the upstairs was wet, there was no sign of water damage to the downstairs apartment.
The cause of the fire was found to be the corner lamp “with a makeshift cover or lampshade on it that was next to furniture that had some type of cloth ornament draped over it.... When the occupant arrived home he saw the lamp and cloth were on fire and spreading to the cabinets and furniture.”
Lazenby said the cause of the fire was determined to be “the heat from the light bulb in the lamp” that ignited the lampshade and the adjacent ornamental cloth and furniture. The fire was mostly confined to contents, and the smoke and heat damage was confined to the upstairs bedroom and storage areas.
Lazenby estimated the fire caused about $5,000 damage to the structure and its contents, but “It’s hard to judge... we tore a wall down” that will have to be replaced. In addition, there was water and smoke damage: “The upstairs looks like an old barbecue... everything is black and will have to cleaned.”
Lazenby said Ventura County Fire also responded. When it was determined the engine wasn’t needed on scene it was assigned to city coverage.
Considering the structure’s balloon construction and lack of fire stops, “If the fire had gone any longer it would have been a mess,” and, Lazenby noted, “The guy who made the initial attack with the bucket of water made a huge difference for us, not that we recommend that, but it did make a huge difference.” Although the residence is “divided into quite a few units,” Lazenby said there were only two people displaced by the fire.
