Candle causes fire inside Castroville duplex

A candle was behind a house fire in Castroville Thursday morning, according to the North County Fire Protection District of Monterey County.

Crews were called out to a duplex near Union and Haight streets just after 8:30 a.m. Firefighters were able to get the fire under control within minutes, but half of the duplex is a complete loss.

Despite the damage, all 15 people inside the homes were safely evacuated.

“No one was hurt, fortunately,” North County Fire District’s Humberto Arista said. “We were able to get everyone out of the structure and adjourning structure.”

The Red Cross was on hand to help those displaced by the fire.