Fire damages two homes near Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento
A home that appears to be under construction in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood was badly damaged in a fire Monday afternoon. The fire also damaged a house next door and caused a grass fire at a vacant lot.
No one was injured and fire officials are investigating to determine the cause, including whether it was caused by arson, Capt. Keith Wade said.
Big clouds of black smoke could be seen for miles. Fire officials responded to the scene just before 2 p.m., Wade said.
Terrance Flournoy, who owns Fresh Lines barber shop at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 20th Avenue, ran outside when he saw black smoke, and saw the grassy vacant lot next to his shop was on fire. He grabbed a hose and started spraying it with water.
“My instinct was to put it out before it spreads anywhere else,” Flournoy said. “I was just trying to help out.”
Across the street, a group of students stood watching the scene through the fence at the Christian Brothers High School parking lot.
Groups of neighbors stood along 20th Avenue watching the multiple active scenes, some recording on their cellphones.
Maria Navarro, who lives in the home next to the house that caught fire, stood on the sidewalk with tears in her eyes as fire crews smashed the house with tools in order to provide ventilation as the fire damaged the attic.
Navarro and three other people made it out safely, Navarro said in Spanish.
Those residents will likely have to be temporarily relocated, Wade said.
This story was originally published September 30, 2019 at 4:44 PM.
