Oceanside CA— Early this morning, October 5, 2015 at 12:51am, crews from the Oceanside, Vista and Carlsbad Fire Departments responded to a report of a fire in a garage on Heather Lane in the Mira Costa area of Oceanside. While en-route, units were advised that is was possible that up to six victims could still be inside the structure.
The first engine arrived on scene less than six minutes after dispatch and found a fully involved attached garage with the fire spreading to the inside of the single story, single family residence. Having been told of the possible trapped victims, the first fire crews focused on getting control of the fire inside the residence while also conducting a quick search. Additional crews were assigned to extinguish the fire in the garage, as well as climb to the roof and cut a hole to release the smoke and hot gasses present inside the structure.
No victims were found inside by the fire crews, as the three adult occupants at home at the time of the fire managed to safely escape on their own. Apparently, the first arriving police officer had asked how many people were still inside the structure and one of the occupants, not being a native English speaker, had reported the total number of people living in the structure. After extensive effort, fire crews were able to bring the fire under control at 1:32am.
Damage has been estimated at $200,000 with $150,000 associated with the structure itself, $15,000 to a vehicle destroyed inside the garage and an additional $35,000 in damage to the contents of the garage and residence. The fire completely destroyed the garage, as well as caused extensive fire damage to the kitchen and living room portions of the house. There was also smoke damage throughout the residence.
An investigator with the Oceanside Fire Department responded to the scene in order to determine the cause and origin of the fire. While the fire appears to be accidental in nature and originated in the garage, the exact cause is still being determined. The investigator will be returning to the scene after daybreak in order to complete his investigation.