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A house in the Stanford Weekend Acres neighborhood sustained significant damage in a fire that broke out on the afternoon of Thursday, April 1, according to the Menlo Park Fire Protection District.
The fire district received a report of a fire at the rear of a house in the neighborhood along Alpine Road. An engine arrived on scene at 1:52 p.m. and reported that the fire involved the rear and side of the building and had pushed into the eaves of the home. Firefighters tackled the fire on the outside of the home, and then went inside. While the fire appeared to not have damaged much of the interior space, firefighters found damage in several attic crawl spaces. They had to cut holes in the roof to let the smoke and heat escape and pull down ceilings to extinguish the fire, according to the district.
By 2:20 p.m., the fire was reported to be completely knocked down. Elements that helped the district battle the fire so quickly were the lack of wind, a drone used to fly over the scene, and the fact that it’s not yet fire season, Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said.
Investigators with the fire district later determined that the fire had started near the mechanical and electrical equipment for a swimming pool and hot tub on the property. In addition, there was an earlier report of a PG&E power outage that coincided with the reported time of the incident, which district officials said they were looking into.
Structural damage was estimated at $125,000, and other damages were estimated to be about $32,000.
“We were very fortunate that the fire was quickly called in by the resident,” Schapelhouman said.
