Home burned, dog killed in fire on Capitola Avenue

UPDATED 10/18/19 10:39 p.m.: Neighbors are devastated after a fire at a Capitola Ave home. The family was not home at the time of the fire, but the dog was and died in the fire.

“It’s horrible. It’s a horrible thing to have to see someone going through, especially-she was a single mom with a child. And she lost everything,” said neighbor Steve Provancher.

The smell of smoke was still in the air Monday night. All that remains is the charred wooden frame.

A firefighter was injured as crews worked to knock the fire out Monday afternoon.

“He fell through a soft spot on the floor. He’s going to be okay,” said Fire Marshall Mike DeMars with the Central Fire Protection District. “And we knocked down the fire really quick but it traveled through the house pretty quickly. There’s a lot of smoke damage, a lot of heat damage.”

DeMars, who is also one of the fire investigators, said the fire started in the living room, but they’re still working to figure out the cause.

“The investigation is still in progress so there’s no absolutes at this time. But coincidentally, power was being restored right around the same time frame that the fire started,” DeMars said.

The home was in the area of PG&E’s latest power shutoff and KION is told that outage is why the family wasn’t home at the time.

DemMrs said they plan to interview the residents and the property manager to see if there were any problems in the home that may have caused the fire.

Neighbors told KION previous tenants said there were wiring issues.

A group of neighbors is raising money and gathering resources for the family.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Crews from Central Fire and other agencies battled a structure fire in Capitola Monday afternoon that killed a family’s dog.

The fire broke out at a home on Capitola Avenue at about 1:30 p.m. A spokesperson for Central Fire said it did significant damage, but has been extinguished.

According to the Fire Marshal, an alert citizen saw smoke and flagged down a passing Capitola Police officer. The officer then discovered the home was on fire and called 911.

Fire crews quickly arrived and contained the fire.

The family left the home because of the power outage, and power was being restored there when the fire broke out.

Crews noticed live electricity when they were trying to put out the flames. PG&E was called to secure the utilities.

Firefighters said the dog died of the effects of smoke and toxic gases. One firefighter was hurt.

Crews are investigating the cause.