Daniel Hunt
The Sacramento Bee
(TNS)
One home was destroyed and another was severely damaged Tuesday in a three-alarm fire that sparked in midtown Sacramento.
The Sacramento Fire Department responded with seven engines and two trucks after the fire was reported just before 8:30 a.m. in the Marshall School neighborhood of Sacramento.
No injuries were reported, said Capt. Justin Sylvia, a spokesman for the department.
The first home on the 600 block of 26th Street had smoke pouring from the attic and a home next door was also ablaze.
Sylvia said that the first home caught fire in the building’s second-story attic space and quickly spread to an adjoining home’s basement. He said the first personnel to arrive cut a hole in the two-story structure’s roof to help direct smoke out of the building in case there were occupants inside.
He said because of the compactness of midtown’s older homes and parcels, the smoke and intense heat helped the fire quickly spread and made work difficult for crews after it leapt to a second home.
“Anytime we have a basement that’s on fire that is very dangerous for us,” Sylvia said. “There was some fire in the basement — just going downward to fight fire, there’s nowhere for that smoke to come back up but at us.”
Thankfully, Sylvia said, the homes were not occupied by the time firefighters arrived. Sylvia said some people would be displaced from the blaze but an exact number was being withheld due to the agency’s policy regarding victims’ safety.
Sylvia said both buildings appeared to be single-family homes and the main focus was to keep the fire from restarting.
“There’s significant damage to this two-story, as well as the single-story,” he said. “But our main focus was the two-story because it had so much fire and void space that made access very difficult.”
He said crews were expected to be on scene for at least two hours and likely through the day monitoring the homes.
“We have to go through and overhaul this place, meaning we have to get all that hot material — that has burned — outside so we don’t have any type of rekindle. … Crews are going to be very busy.”
G Street, between 25th and 27th streets, was expected to remain blocked through noon.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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