Photos: Steve Marcotte / OsideNews
Oceanside CA- A single family home at 621 Carillo Circle, sustained heavy damage Friday night when fire broke out in the garage of the house and quickly spread to the living area.
Thirteen people were in the home when the fire started according to Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., son of the homeowner. “Some of us were in the living-room, some were in the kitchen when the lights started to flicker and then they went out. We went outside and opened the garage. The whole thing was on fire and we called 9-1-1″, stated Rodriguez Jr.
Family members pushed cars and a trailer out of the driveway while Alfonso Rodriguez Sr. went into the burning garage to pull his truck out of harms way. “He started to pull the truck out and it got stuck on some burning debris” said Rodriguez Jr., “my brother ran in and moved the burning stuff out from under the truck.” Rodriguez Sr., was able to get the truck out and the family dog escaped the burning garage. “We tried to use the garden hose but we had no water”, stated Rodriguez Jr.
The first police officer on the scene said he heard lots of explosions coming from the garage. ” It was like I was back in Baghdad” he said. When Oceanside Fire Department Battalion Chief, Joe Ward arrived on the scene, a little after 9:30 PM, he said the garage was fully involved and there were flames shooting out the kitchen window. “We made an initial aggressive exterior attack on the front of the garage, then an interior attack and went on top to ventilate the hot gasses through the roof” stated, Ward.
The fire was initially knocked down within 45 minutes but the stubborn blaze erupted again due to flames trapped in pockets of the flat roof on the house and under flashing around the roof-top. Mop-up and overhaul of the home began a little after 12:15 AM. Eleven units with 28 firefighter from Oceanside and Camp Pendleton fought the blaze.
Alfonso Rodriguez Sr. said he lost all the tools in the garage for his landscape business but was happy no one was hurt in the fire. However, the family parakeet perished in the fire. The Red Cross was assisting with finding shelter for the family. No damage estimate for the home and contents is currently available.