A fire destroyed a house in the 3800 block of East Four Ridge Road on Tuesday morning (Nov. 28) and left an Imperial family of three without a home, Antonia Fire Chief Mike Arnhart said. “No one was home at the time of the fire,” he said.
It was a passerby who noticed the fire and called 911. The Antonia Fire Protection District got a call about the fire at 7:16 a.m., Arnhart said.
When firefighters arrived, the front portion of the single-story home was filled with fire, and flames were coming out of the front windows, he said. Firefighters “made an attack on the fire and put it out pretty quickly,” Arnhart said.
While fighting the fire was “labor intensive,” water was accessible since there was a hydrant near the property, he said. “We had to stretch two hose lines as we moved into the structure,” Arnhart said.
Despite firefighters’ efforts, however, the house could not be saved. “There was extensive damage,” Arnhart said. “It’s uninhabitable. They won’t be able to return.” He said the cause of the fire was “accidental in nature.”
Neighbors said the couple who lived in the home had just taken their son to school before the fire broke out, and Antonia Fire personnel went to the school and asked school staff to contact the parents. The couple arrived on the scene a short time later, Arnhart said.
“We told them about the Red Cross, but they said they had someone to turn to – I believe family,” he said.
Antonia firefighters were on the scene for about two and a half hours, Arnhart said.
The Saline Valley and Rock Community fire protection districts helped with the call, he said.