Turlock Fire Department received a call at 10:20am on Monday regarding a residential structure fire located at 3420 Rochester Court in Turlock. One lone occupant was asleep and unaware that the fire had spread into the floor under her fireplace. Luckily, the downstairs occupant noticed smoke filling her apartment as well, and alerted the sleeping occupant after calling 911. Both occupants escaped the apartment unharmed.
The fire, reported as a chimney fire in the second story apartment, was controlled within thirty minutes of arrival. Crews spent two hours checking for extension in the attic, chimney, and crawl space between floors. On scene fire units determined that the fire was in the below fireplace in the crawl space between the first and second floors of the apartment complex.
Turlock Fire Department determined that burning fire logs that had rolled onto the floor and burned down into the crawl space between the first and second floors caused the fire. The fire caused moderate damage to the upstairs apartment, resulting in an estimated $7,500 dollar loss. Thankfully, residents or landlords can visit a site like https://crawlspacemedic.com/raleigh-nc/ and have their crawl spaces repaired. No residents were displaced due to the incident.
Turlock Fire Department Relief Battalion Chief Scott Wejmar acted as Officer in Charge during the incident, and was accompanied by three Engine Companies for a total of ten personnel. Other assisting agencies included TID and PG&E.
It was also discovered that there were no working smoke detectors within the residence throughout the incident. Turlock Fire Department would like to remind all citizens to check and maintain their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors regularly.
