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Fire chars ceiling in Porotla Valley garage

by Dave Boyce

Radiant heat from a propane tank heater in a garage at 115 Shawnee Pass in Portola Valley ignited a couple of aerosol paint cans sitting nearby and started a one-alarm fire on the morning of Sunday, Dec. 20.

The homeowner held the fire in check with a garden hose until firefighters from the Woodside Fire Protection District arrived and quickly extinguished it, Battalion Chief Kevin Butler said. There were no injuries and no threats to either the vegetation or adjacent homes, he said.

The garage sustained about $30,000 in structural damage, mainly to the rafters, and $5,000 damage to paper materials stored above the rafters, he said.

The homeowner had been working on an automotive project and was planning to use the paint, Mr. Butler said. The owner left the garage briefly and heat from the heater likely melted parts of the aerosol cans, which would have released flammable vapors that ignited, Mr. Butler said.

Though the garage doors were open, the lesson, he said, is never to use indoors a heater intended for outdoor use, even in an indoors/outdoors situation like an open garage.

Smoke triggered a smoke detector in the house, which led to the 911 call at 9:13 a.m.

Eighteen firefighters in four engines and a ladder truck responded from the station at 135 Portola Road, and were on the scene in about four minutes, Mr. Butler said. They had the fire under control in 10 minutes, he said.

Firefighters cut one hole in the roof to allow the escape of heat and gases, and installed a remote-viewing thermal imaging camera overnight to monitor the site for re-ignition, he said.